U.S. equity futures were firmer on Wednesday as investors prepared for a high-profile quarterly report from Nvidia and kept an eye on elevated government bond yields.
By 06:38 ET (10:38 GMT), the contracts showed meaningful gains across benchmarks: the Dow futures contract was up 128 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 futures had risen 30 points, or 0.4%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were higher by 208 points, or 0.7%.
Several individual stocks and sectors stood out in premarket activity:
- Nvidia traded higher as market participants positioned ahead of the chipmaker's key quarterly earnings, due after the close on Wall Street.
- Analog Devices climbed after announcing it will acquire Empower Semiconductor for about $1.5 billion in cash. The deal is pitched as a move to expand Analog Devices' power management capabilities with a focus on artificial intelligence applications.
- Micron Technology gained ground following reports that Samsung Electronics is facing a strike, a development that can influence competitive dynamics within the memory market.
- Energy majors including Chevron and Exxon Mobil were lower in premarket trading. Other oil and gas producers such as Occidental Petroleum, APA Corp, Diamondback Energy and Devon Energy also declined, tracking a pullback in oil prices. The drop came after President Donald Trump said the Iran war could end "very quickly," though a Wall Street Journal report suggested negotiations between Washington and Tehran had seen little progress.
- Target shares rose after the retailer doubled its annual sales growth forecast and recorded its strongest quarterly sales increase in years.
- Lowe's slipped after issuing a warning on the state of the U.S. housing market, even though its quarterly sales exceeded consensus estimates.
- AMC Entertainment jumped after CEO Adam Aron said he purchased an additional 250,000 shares and declared he had "enormous confidence" in the company.
- Cava Group rose as higher customer traffic helped support an upgraded annual sales outlook.
- Keysight Technology dipped following the release of its second-quarter results.
- Toll Brothers edged up after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter profit and raising its annual guidance.
- Red Cat Holdings climbed after announcing the acquisition of power transfer firm Quaze Technologies.
The premarket session also reflected moves across a range of benchmarks and futures, with various quoted symbols showing mixed directionality.
Overall, the session was characterized by a dichotomy between strength in technology and select consumer names and weakness in energy shares, with macro factors such as bond yields and geopolitical headlines contributing to the market tone.