Oct 6 (Reuters) – US stock index futures rose on Tuesday as Treasury yields dipped from multi-year highs and oil prices retreated, offering investors some relief ahead of the quarterly earnings season.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at a record high on Monday, lifted by heavyweights Nvidia and Microsoft, as investors continued to bet on the AI boom that has pushed stock markets to record highs.
Nvidia rose 0.7% in premarket trading and was last valued at $5.8 trillion.
The benchmark S&P 500 closed just 0.6% below its mid-August peak on Monday, and a record high for the index would imply the bull market that began in October 2022 remains intact.
Optimism around the AI trade and expectations of strong corporate earnings have helped US stocks outperform global peers over the past six months despite higher energy prices and a volatile summer for bond markets that fueled concerns about tighter monetary policy.
The yield on 30-year Treasury bonds fell to 5.626%, having touched a 2002 high of 5.702% a day earlier.
A softer-than-expected payrolls report last week eased expectations around rate hikes this year. Traders now see a 78% chance of the Federal Reserve holding interest rates steady this month, though a December rate hike remains largely priced in, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Oil prices fell more than 1% on Tuesday, with Brent crude trading at $98.58 as resilient Middle Eastern crude exports and a G7 emergency stockpile release eased supply concerns. [O/R]
‘Magnificent Seven’ stocks edged higher, with Meta, Tesla and Amazon.com climbing around 0.6% each, while chip stocks such as Intel and Micron Technology were marginally lower.
At 5:50 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 281 points, or 0.55%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 19.5 points, or 0.25%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 102 points, or 0.33%.
The third-quarter earnings season kicks off next week with reports from large US banks.
Analysts on average see S&P 500 earnings jumping over 30% year over year in the quarter, thanks largely to AI-related stocks, according to LSEG data.
Among individual movers, Option Care Health jumped 21.4% after healthcare group McKesson and private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice were reportedly closing in on a deal to buy the infusion services provider for nearly $5 billion.
Mattel shares fell marginally after a major shareholder urged the Barbie maker to explore a sale, saying progress in its performance and profitability had stalled, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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