U.S. Stocks May See Further Upside On Upbeat Nvidia Earnings, Guidance

After moving sharply higher over the course of the previous session, stocks may see further upside in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.4 percent.

Early buying interest may be generated amid a positive reaction to earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the chipmaker spiking by 6.4 percent in pre-market trading.

The spike by Nvidia comes after the company reported fiscal second quarter results that far exceeded analyst estimates and provided upbeat guidance amid optimism about demand for AI chips.

“Any disappointment in [Nvidia’s] latest results would have gone down like a lead balloon. It could have hurt investor sentiment and caused contagion elsewhere in the markets,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“Fortunately, it’s pulled another rabbit out of the hat and given investors everything they wanted and more,” he added. “This appears to have sprinkled some magic dust on the markets and provided new impetus to share prices.”

However, traders may be somewhat reluctant to continue buying stocks ahead of the highly anticipated economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which gets underway later today.

The symposium will feature meetings by global central bank leaders as well as a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday that could impact the outlook for interest rates.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods tumbled by more than expected in the month of July.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders plunged by 5.2 percent in July after surging by a revised 4.4 percent in June.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to slump by 4.0 percent compared to the 4.6 percent jump that had been reported for the previous month.

Excluding a pullback in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by 0.5 percent in July after inching up by 0.2 percent in June. Ex-transportation orders were expected to edge up by 0.2 percent.

The Labor Department also released a report unexpectedly showing a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended August 19th.

The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 230,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 240,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 240,000 from the 239,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, with the major averages all moving to the upside after ending Tuesday’s session mixed. The Nasdaq led the charge amid a rally by technology stocks.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq surged 215.16 points or 1.6 percent to 13,721.03, the S&P 500 jumped 48.46 points or 1.1 percent to 4,436.01 and the Dow climbed 184.15 points or 0.5 percent to 34,472.98.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index spiked by 2.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are little changed on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are lingering near the unchanged line.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are edging down $0.05 to $78.84 a barrel after sliding $0.75 to $78.89 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after jumping $22.10 to $1,948.10 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slipping $6.80 to $1,941.30 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 145.89 yen versus the 144.84 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0819 compared to yesterday’s $1.0863.