Stock futures pointed toward a higher open Thursday as tech shares surged on record earnings from AI chipmaking giant TSMC, while oil prices sank as President Donald Trump dialed down the threat of a U.S. military strike on Iran.
Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up a respective 0.8%, 0.3%, and 0.1%.
Early Thursday, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM), or TSMC, reported fourth-quarter profit increased 35% year-over-year. U.S.-listed shares of the world’s largest contract chipmaker surged 6.5% before the bell, and those of Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker ASML (ASML)—which gets a lot of business from TSMC—rose 6%.
Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, sank more than 3% to $60 a barrel after President Donald Trump hinted yesterday afternoon that he could hold off on attacking Iran, something he had threatened earlier in the week.
Yesterday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq, benchmark S&P 500, and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished lower for a second straight session following the start of bank earnings season. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) stock has declined 5% the past two days after it reported fourth-quarter figures, and shares of its rivals Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), and Wells Fargo (WFC) fell sharply yesterday after they reported their own fourth-quarter results.
BlackRock (BLK), Morgan Stanley (MS), Goldman Sachs (GS) shares advanced a respective 1.4%, 1.2%, and 0.2% in premarket trading after they reported Q4 results.
Shares of Nvidia (NVDA), the world’s most valuable public company, rebounded about 1% after slipping 1.4% Wednesday as the Trump administration said it must meet new security requirements before exporting of its H200 AI chips to China.
Gold futures edged lower to $4,620 an ounce after hitting their latest record high yesterday. Silver futures set a fresh record of $93.75 an ounce early Thursday but were down nearly 1% to $90.65 in recent trading.
The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences interest rates on a variety of commercial and consumer loans, recently traded above 4.15%, up from Wednesday’s close below 4.14%.
Bitcoin was trading around $96,600, down slightly from the day’s high of about $97,700. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, was little changed at 99.17.