Upbeat Nvidia Results May Spark Early Rally On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a sharply higher open on Thursday, with stocks poised to add to the gains posted in the previous session.

The upward momentum on Wall Street comes amid a positive reaction to highly anticipated earnings news from market leader and AI darling Nvidia (NVDA).

Shares of Nvidia are surging by 5.1 percent in premarket trading after the chipmaker reported better than expected third quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.

The strong results from Nvidia have helped offset recent concerns about a potential AI bubble that have weighed on the markets over the past several sessions.

"Nvidia's results had the potential to be a make-or-break moment for global financial markets," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. "Any disappointment could have fuelled concerns around an AI bubble poised to burst."

"Fortunately, Nvidia has brought the party back to life, with suggestions that everything is hunky dory with all things AI," he added. "Demand for its products remains strong, and chief executive Jensen Huang continues to talk up AI like it's the best thing since sliced bread."

The futures remained sharply higher after the Labor Department released a long-delayed report showing employment in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of September.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 119,000 jobs in September after a revised dip of 4,000 jobs in August.

Economists had expected employment to rise by 50,000 jobs compared to the addition of 22,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.4 percent in September from 4.3 percent in August. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.

The stronger than expected jobs growth may help ease recent concerns about the strength of the economy but may also further decrease expectations of another interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve's next meeting in December.

After failing to sustain an early rally, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before eventually ending the day mostly higher. The major averages all closed in positive territory after spending the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed up 131.38 points or 0.6 percent at 22,564.23 but had surged by as much as 1.7 percent in early trading. The S&P 500 also rose 24.84 points or 0.4 percent to 6,642.16, while the narrower Dow inched up 47.03 points or 0.1 percent to 46,138.77.

The early strength on Wall Street came as some traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the significant weakness seen over the past few sessions.

The major averages slumped to their lowest closing levels in a month on Tuesday amid lingering concerns about a potential AI bubble.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of earnings news from Nvidia after the close of trading.

Ahead of the release of its third quarter results, Nvidia jumped by 2.9 percent after ending Tuesday's session at its lowest closing level in almost a month.

Stocks continued to show a lack of direction after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting revealed officials had mixed views about the outlook for interest rates.

The minutes of the Fed's October 28-29 meeting said participants expressed "strongly differing views" about what policy decision would most likely be appropriate at the central bank's next meeting on December 9-10.

While the Fed said most participants agreed that it would be appropriate to eventually lower rates, several indicated that they did not necessarily view another 25 basis point rate cut as likely to be appropriate at the December meeting.

Others assessed that a further lowering of rates could be appropriate in December if the economy evolved about as they expected, although "many participants" suggested that it would likely be appropriate to keep rates unchanged for the rest of the year, the Fed said.

Semiconductor stocks showed a strong move back to the upside following recent weakness, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbing by 1.8 percent after ending Tuesday's trading at its lowest closing level in over month.

Considerable strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

On the other hand, energy stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of crude oil, dragging the NYSE Arca Oil Index down by 1.7 percent.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are climbing $0.39 to $59.83 a barrel after plunging $1.30 to $59.44 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after rising $16.30 to $4,082.80 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $1.60 to $4,081.20 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.63 yen versus the 157.15 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1523 compared to yesterday's $1.1536.

Asia

Asian stocks rose broadly on Thursday after chipmaker Nvidia delivered stellar third quarter earnings and fourth quarter guidance and struck a confident tone about the durability of the artificial intelligence (AI) cycle.

The dollar gained on diminished rate cut expectations and ahead of the release of the long-delayed September U.S. jobs report later in the day, originally scheduled for October 3.

Gold ticked lower after a two-day gain, while oil edged up slightly as investors weighed the fallout from U.S. sanctions on Russia's Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC that are set to take effect on Friday.

China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.4 percent to 3,931.05 as the People's Bank of China held key lending rates steady for the sixth straight month. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed marginally higher at 25,835.57 after a choppy session.

Japanese markets surged to end a four-session losing streak, led by a robust rally in technology stocks. Sentiment was also lifted by a weaker yen, which hit a 10-month low against the dollar after reports suggested that the government is in the final stages of assembling a stimulus package worth 21.3 trillion yen ($135.38 billion).

The Nikkei 225 Index hit an intraday high of 50,574 before paring some gains to end the session up 2.7 percent at 49,823.94. The broader Topix Index settled 1.7 percent higher at 3,299.57. Among the top gainers, SoftBank Group, Tokyo Electron and Fujikura climbed 2-6 percent.

Seoul stocks soared, led by semiconductor and other blue-chip tech shares on hopes that the AI-driven market rally could regain momentum.

The Kospi jumped 1.9 percent to 4,004.85, snapping a two-day losing streak. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics surged 4.3 percent and chip giant SK Hynix advanced 1.6 percent.

Australian markets rebounded from five-month lows, with banks, miners and gold stocks leading the surge in a broad-based rally. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1.2 percent to 8,552.70, while the broader All Ordinaries Index closed up 1.3 percent at 8,834.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index climbed 0.8 percent to 13,439.40.

Europe

European stocks are mostly higher on Thursday as Nvidia's strong earnings results and guidance has helped ease concerns about an AI bubble.

While t he German DAX Index is up by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.7 percent.

Shares of major tech firms have moved sharply higher in reaction to Nvidia's results, with ASML Holding surging nearly 2 percent.

Valneva has also soared. The French specialty vaccine company backed its updated guidance for the year ahead after reporting higher revenue in the first nine months.

Aerospace heavyweight Airbus has also moved to the upside after launching the second tranche of previously announced share buyback program.

Halma shares have also spiked. The health and safety device maker raised its full-year guidance after posting record first-half results.

German wind manufacturer Nordex has also rallied on securing a fresh order to supply and install 12 N133/4.8 wind turbines at the Drumnahough Wind Farm in Donegal, Ireland.

AstraZeneca has also advanced. The FDA has expanded the approval of its drug, Koselugo, to include adult patients.

On the other hand, British facilities management giant Mitie Group has slumped after acquiring a specialist engineering business.

Specialty chemicals company Johnson Matthey has also tumbled after reshuffling its leadership team and announcing a fall in interim earnings.

Sportswear retailer JD Sports has also shown a notable move to the downside after lowering its profit outlook.

U.S. Economic News

A long-delayed report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed employment in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of September.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 119,000 jobs in September after a revised dip of 4,000 jobs in August.

Economists had expected employment to rise by 50,000 jobs compared to the addition of 22,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.4 percent in September from 4.3 percent in August. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended November 15th, according to a separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 220,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's level of 228,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 223,000.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also slipped to 224,250, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's average of 227,250.

At 10 am ET, the National Association of Realtors is due to release its report on existing home sales in the month of October. Existing home sales are expected to rise to an annual rate of 4.08 million in October after jumping to an annual rate of 4.06 million in September.

The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the details of this month's auctions of two-year, five-year and seven-year notes at 11 am ET.

At 1:40 pm ET, Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee is due to participate in a moderated discussion before the CFA Society of Indianapolis 2025 Annual Lunch & New Charterholder Ceremony.