June S&P 500 E-Mini futures (ESM26) are up +0.31%, and June Nasdaq 100 E-Mini futures (NQM26) are up +0.30% this morning, pointing to further gains after a tech-led rally in the previous session, while investors monitor developments from the U.S.-China talks and await a fresh batch of U.S. economic data, with particular attention on retail sales figures.
The momentum around AI received a fresh boost on Thursday. Cisco Systems jumped over +17% in pre-market trading after the networking giant posted upbeat FQ3 results, issued FQ4 guidance that blew past estimates, and announced plans to cut thousands of jobs. The results indicated that Cisco is successfully transitioning toward the AI economy. Also, Nvidia was poised for a sixth straight session of gains, rising over +2% in pre-market trading. In addition, chipmaker Cerebras Systems raised $5.55 billion in the largest U.S. initial public offering of the year. Still, some of the largest chipmaking names, such as Intel and Micron Technology, took a breather, limiting gains in Nasdaq futures.
