The US stock futures traded mixed on Thursday, 3 September, after major Wall Street indices recovered in the previous session amid renewed buying in technology and chip stocks.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 were largely flat, while Dow futures and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.15% and 0.09%, respectively. In the previous session, all three major indices closed higher with gains of up over 0.50% each.
Investors welcomed encouraging signals about artificial intelligence demand from major technology companies, including Dell Technologies and Palo Alto Networks. The AI boom has remained one of the key drivers behind the S&P 500’s gains this year.
In the bond market, the yield on the US 10-year Treasury fell to around 4.77%, after rising above 4.81% early Wednesday. The retreat followed a global bond sell-off that had raised concerns about persistent inflation, energy shocks linked to the Iran conflict and rising US government debt.
The renewed surge in energy prices has added to inflation concerns already fuelled by years of heavy government spending and increased corporate borrowing to finance the artificial intelligence buildout.
Traders are now pricing in a more than 50% probability of an interest-rate hike this month by four major central banks as investors assess whether rising oil prices and bond yields could add further pressure on stocks and other risk assets.
In his maiden Jackson Hole address, Warsh warned that inflation was not slowing meaningfully and reaffirmed that policymakers remained committed to returning inflation to their 2% target. His tough stance on price pressures has also put added focus on this week’s US payrolls report, which could play a crucial role in shaping the interest-rate outlook.
On Thursday, traders will closely watch the weekly jobless claims data, while the main economic event of the week will be Friday’s August payrolls report.
Oil prices remain elevated amid escalating US-Iran tensions
Futures for international benchmark Brent crude for November delivery were advanced to $97.62 a barrel, extending the winning streak to a fourth session.
The US West Texas Intermediate futures for October delivery also rose 2.32% to $92.2 per barrel.
US President Donald Trump said renewed attacks on Iran would likely be short-lived and reiterated his claim that the US controls the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Iran reportedly fired at Kuwait on Thursday as part of its retaliation for US bombardments earlier in the week.
Fighting between the US and Iran has intensified this week after the US reportedly struck Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, saying Iran was planning to use them to deploy mines in the strategically important waterway.
Snowflake, HPE and Petco among stocks in focus
Among individual stocks, Broadcom shares climbed back into positive territory after initially falling 5% following its earnings report on Wednesday.
Snowflake shares surged more than 24% after the company’s second-quarter results topped analyst expectations. Snowflake reported adjusted earnings of 62 cents per share on revenue of $1.55 billion.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise slipped 4% after company expects earnings growth of 16% to 20% for the fiscal year ending October 2027, coming slightly lower than the analysts’ estimates.
Shares of Petco jumped about 9% after the company’s adjusted EBITDA margin in the second quarter came in at 8.2%, higher than the estimates, CNBC reported.
(With inputs from AP and Bloomberg)
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