<figure id="attachment_2947090" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2947090" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-2947090 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/d1d02047-12444452.webp" alt="US STOCK MARKET" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2947090" class="wp-caption-text">Dow E-minis gained 0.34%, S&amp;P 500 E-minis rose 0.52%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis advanced 0.72%. (EPA Images pic)</figcaption></figure>
NEW YORK: US stock index futures gained today as tech stocks advanced, reflecting easing artificial intelligence (AI) worries, while investors awaited minutes from the Federal Reserve&#8217;s (Fed) most recent policy meeting for clues on the interest rate outlook.
Markets have been volatile, with the S&amp;P 500 ending 0.1% higher on Tuesday after falling as much as 0.9% early in the session. The Nasdaq and the Dow also saw similar reversals.
Wall Street&#8217;s main indexes have been rocked this month by worries of disruption from rapidly improving AI tools that hit sectors from software to trucking.
Broader AI-linked and megacap technology stocks also lost ground as investors looked for stronger evidence that the heavy investments in the technology were tangibly boosting revenue and profits.
&#8220;In extremis, AI disruption risks could undermine the customer base that underwrote hyperscalers&#8217; capex thesis,&#8221; Geoff Yu, BNY&#8217;s EMEA macro strategist, wrote in a note.
&#8220;With sentiment and positioning indicators starting the year near highs, there is a risk that the pullback continues.
&#8220;However, we emphasise that additional drag will have to come from other forms of tightening in financial markets,&#8221; Yu said.
On Wednesday, most megacap and growth stocks rose in premarket trading.
Nvidia was up 2.3% after the company said it had signed a multi-year deal to sell Meta Platforms millions of its current and future AI chips.
Other megacaps also advanced. Amazon.com rose 1.6%, while Meta and Microsoft were marginally higher.
The release of minutes from the Fed&#8217;s January policy meeting, where it held its main lending rate steady, is expected later in the day.
Traders are pricing in a chance of roughly 63% for a rate cut of at least 25 basis points at the Fed&#8217;s June meeting, the first with odds above 50%, according to CME&#8217;s FedWatch Tool.
Later in the week, the personal consumption expenditure report &#8211; the Fed&#8217;s preferred inflation gauge &#8211; will be in focus and is expected to provide insights into inflation and how it could impact borrowing costs.
At 7.11am, Dow E-minis were up 167 points, or 0.34%, S&amp;P 500 E-minis were up 35.5 points, or 0.52%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 179 points, or 0.72%.
In earnings-driven moves, Analog Devices&#8217; shares gained 7% after the chipmaker forecast second-quarter earnings above Wall Street estimates.
Global Payments projected annual adjusted profit above expectations, sending its shares up 6%.
Palo Alto Networks dropped 6.2% after the cybersecurity company trimmed its annual profit forecast, signaling rising costs from recent acquisitions to enhance its AI capabilities.
Cadence Design Systems climbed 7.7% after the chip design software provider beat fourth-quarter revenue estimates.
New York Times rose 3.6% after Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a new investment in the media company.
Hard-disk drive maker Western Digital plans to raise US$3.17 billion by selling some of its stake in former unit Sandisk through a secondary share sale, sending Sandisk&#8217;s shares down 3%.

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