US Stock Futures Climb as Tech Sector Follows Micron Rally; Awaiting Powell’s Speech

U.S. stock index futures saw an uptick in evening trading on Wednesday, boosted by a surge in technology stocks following strong earnings from memory chip manufacturer Micron.

Despite some upward movement, overall gains were limited as Wall Street experienced a negative session, with attention shifting to an imminent address by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Nevertheless, U.S. stock benchmarks remained close to record highs after significant gains following last week’s substantial interest rate cut by the Fed.

S&P 500 Futures increased by 0.1% to 5,783.75 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.3% to 20,243.25 points. In contrast, Dow Jones Futures dipped by 0.1% to 42,255.0 points.

Micron’s strong performance in the wake of demand fueled by artificial intelligence saw its shares rally over 14% in after-hours trading. The company reported quarterly earnings that exceeded expectations and provided an optimistic forecast for the current quarter, thanks to high demand for its high-bandwidth memory chips.

This positive trend for Micron had a ripple effect on the broader technology sector, particularly among chipmakers. NVIDIA Corp experienced a nearly 1% increase, with peers Applied Materials and Western Digital seeing gains of 4% and 6.5%, respectively.

The focus for the week rested on further insights from the Fed following last week’s rate cut. Chair Jerome Powell was scheduled to speak on Thursday. Other Fed officials had also expressed support for the recent 50 basis point cut, while cautioning that rates may not decrease as significantly in upcoming meetings. The PCE price index data, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation metric, is expected on Friday and could influence the central bank’s rate decisions moving forward.

After the Fed’s interest rate cut, Wall Street indexes had surged to record highs, with analysts predicting a future decrease in rates of at least 125 basis points. However, recent sessions have seen a slowdown in gains due to uncertainties regarding the Fed’s next steps. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 declined by 0.2% to 5,722.26 points, the NASDAQ Composite ended flat at 18,084.51 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.7% to 41,914.75 points.

In other notable after-hours trading, Aramark Holdings experienced a significant boost, rising over 10% to a three-year high following reports that French competitor Sodexo was considering an acquisition. Conversely, H B Fuller Company fell 9% after lowering its annual guidance, while Concentrix Corp saw an 11% drop due to weak quarterly earnings and guidance.