Wall Street futures climb as federal court rules against Trump's tariffs
Wall Street futures climbed on Thursday after a U.S. trade court blocked most of President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs, while AI bellwether Nvidia's stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue added to the upbeat mood.
Nvidia jumped over 6% in premarket trading after reporting 69% quarterly sales growth, driven by customers stockpiling AI chips ahead of U.S. export restrictions to China.
The company, however, warned that the new curbs are expected to cut $8 billion from current-quarter sales.
Other chipmakers rose in the wake of Nvidia's results, with Advanced Micro Devices gaining 3%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF advanced 3.2%.
Global risk appetite was also buoyed after a U.S. court invalidated with immediate effect most of Trump's sweeping levies imposed since January, but did not address some industry-specific tariffs on automobiles, steel and aluminum.
"This ruling is a key development, and it will weaken Trump's bargaining power in his ongoing negotiations with the U.S.' key trading partners," National Bank of Kuwait analysts said in a note.
"If the ruling is sustained, it will be a major positive development for the U.S. and the global economy."
However, the decision can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., and potentially to the U.S. Supreme Court.
At 7:06 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 205 points, or 0.49%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 64.25 points, or 1.09%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 345.5 points, or 1.62%.
Futures linked to the economically-sensitive Russell 2000 small-cap index also ticked up 1.07%.
Apple, which was hit with a threat of tariffs from Trump last week, led gains among megacap and growth stocks with a 2.4% jump. Meta Platforms rose 1.5%, while shares of Alphabet added 1.3%.
The S&P 500 is currently about 4% below an all-time high touched on February 19, having rebounded from a nearly 19% decline earlier in April, supported by easing trade tensions, strong earnings, and subdued inflation data that boosted risk appetite.
May has been a solid month for equities, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on pace for their best monthly performances since November 2023.
Minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, released on Wednesday, indicated that policymakers acknowledged they could face "difficult tradeoffs" in coming months in the form of rising inflation alongside rising unemployment.
Later in the day, the second estimate for first-quarter GDP will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and Personal Consumption Expenditure data is slated for Friday.
At least five Fed policymakers including Fed Board Governor Adriana Kugler are scheduled to make public remarks through the day.
In other earnings, HP Inc shed nearly 9% after the PC maker cut its annual profit forecast.
Best Buy dropped nearly 3% after the electronics retailer lowered its annual sales forecast.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Benglauru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Maju Samuel)
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