Nasdaq leads Wall St futures higher on AI optimism after Micron's forecast
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Weekly jobless claims, final GDP estimate due at 8:30 a.m. ET
Accenture gains after upbeat annual revenue forecast
Miners jump after report of Chinese stimulus
Futures up: Dow 0.49%, S&P 500 0.79%, Nasdaq 1.43%
Updated at 7:02 a.m. ET/1102 GMT
By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal
Sept 26 (Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures climbed onThursday after Micron's upbeat forecast revived the euphoria around artificial intelligence on Wall Street,while investors also awaited economic data and remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Micron Technology MU.O jumped 14.7% in premarket trading after the memory chip maker forecast higher-than-expected first-quarter revenue, underscoring that demand for memory chips used in AI computing was robust.
The optimism lifted otherchip stocks, with Nvidia NVDA.O rising 1.8%, Advanced Micro Devices advancing 2.2% AMD.O and Broadcom AVGO.O adding 1.7%.
Semiconductor equipment companies such as Applied Materials AMAT.O and KLA Corp KLAC.O also jumped 5.4% and 4.5% respectively.
"Optimism surrounding AI had taken a bit of a backseat in recent weeks. The strong revenue guidance from Micron has revived the AI trade a little bit, reminding the market that AI is still relevant," said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.
Meta META.O led gains among other growth names with a 1.9% rise, a day after unveiling an entry-level version of its Quest line of mixed-reality headsets. Alphabet GOOGL.O added 1.3%, Tesla TSLA.O climbed 1.4% and Microsoft MSFT.O was up 0.8%.
At 7:02 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 209 points, or 0.49%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 45.75 points, or 0.79% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 287.75 points, or 1.43%.
Futures tracking the Russell 2000 small caps index RTYc1 added 1%.
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX and blue-chip Dow .DJI have hit multiple record highs since the start of this year and the tech-laden Nasdaq .IXIC is about 3% away from its own milestone as investors lap up shares of companies that could see a boost to earnings from AI-integration.
Expectations of lower interest rates this year havefurther strengthened the rally. Focus will now be on jobless claims data for the week ended Sept. 21 and a final second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) estimate. The reports are due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Late on Wednesday, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said she "strongly supported" the central bank's decision to kick off monetary policy easing with a rare half a percentage point cut last week, as part of an emerging focus on the job market.
The spotlight will now be on Powell's remarks at a New York conference expected before the market opens for clues on the health of the economy and the outlook for interest rate cuts.
Traders expect the Fed to deliver another outsized cut in November with a 60.8% chance, up from 38.8% a week ago, as per the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
A host of Fedofficials, including John Williams, Michael Barr, Michelle Bowman and Neel Kashkari are also scheduled to speak later in the day.
Among others, copper miners such as Freeport-McMoRan FCX.N rose 4.9%, while lithium miners such as Albemarle climbed 4.3% ALB.N and Arcadium ALTM.N added 2.7% after a report said China plans to issue special sovereign bonds worth about 2 trillion yuan as part of a fresh fiscal stimulus.
The optimism also spread to U.S.-listed Chinese firms such as Li Auto that advanced 8% LI.O, PDD Holdings PDD.O rose 8.2% and Alibaba BABA.N added 6%.
Accenture ACN.N gained 6.8% after the IT services provider forecast annual revenue above estimates.
AI frenzy boosts Micron's revenue growth https://reut.rs/3TENzLG
Fed views of the rate cut ending https://reut.rs/4de1H5H
Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Maju Samuel
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