US stock-index futures edged higher on Wednesday as chipmakers steadied before Nvidia’s results, a release set to test whether Wall Street’s AI trade still has room to run.
The move came after a bond-driven selloff pressured equities, with the 10-year Treasury yield easing from a 16-month high hit in the previous session.
Oil also slipped after President Donald Trump said the war with Iran would end “very quickly,” though supply risks remained.
Investors now face a packed session: Nvidia after the close, Fed minutes at 2 pm in Washington, and another read on whether rates are turning into a larger threat.
5 things to know before Wall Street opens
1. Futures rise as chip stocks rebound
US equity futures advanced modestly in early New York trading, helped by a rebound across semiconductor shares before Nvidia’s quarterly report.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.4%, while contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 0.8%, reversing earlier losses.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures also turned higher, adding 75 points, or 0.2%.
Nvidia, widely viewed as the centre of the global AI trade, rose 1.6% in pre-market trading before results due after the closing bell. Marvell Technology gained 5%, Intel rose 4.9% and Micron advanced 3.9%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF added 2%.
2. Nvidia results become a test of AI spending
Nvidia’s earnings are likely to matter well beyond a single stock.
The company has become a proxy for demand across AI infrastructure, from data-centre spending to chip equipment, power management and cloud capital expenditure.
Investors will be looking for evidence that demand for AI chips remains strong enough to support the premium valuations attached to large technology and AI-linked shares.
3. Treasury yields ease, but rate anxiety remains
Treasuries offered some relief after a bruising stretch for global bonds.
The 10-year US yield, which climbed to a 16-month high of 4.687% in the previous session, eased to about 4.6533% on Wednesday.
That pullback helped stabilise equity futures, particularly rate-sensitive technology shares. Even so, the broader concern has not gone away.
4. Oil slips after Trump comment, but supply risks linger
Oil prices fell after Trump said the war with Iran would end “very quickly”, easing some immediate concern about Middle East supply disruptions.
Brent crude is down around 1% at $109.76 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate traded near $102.79.
The decline offered some relief to markets worried that higher energy costs could feed into inflation and complicate the Fed’s policy path.
5. Analog Devices deal adds to AI infrastructure theme
Deal news also kept semiconductors in focus.
Analog Devices rose 3.8% in pre-market trading after announcing it would buy Empower Semiconductor for about $1.5 billion in cash.
The acquisition is aimed at strengthening its AI-focused power-management portfolio, particularly for data centres, edge computing and automotive markets.
The deal underlines how the AI buildout is extending beyond graphics processors.
Power delivery, energy efficiency and data-centre infrastructure are becoming key parts of the investment story as workloads grow more demanding.
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