(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures fell on Thursday as Micron Technology slumped after unimpressive guidance for the current quarter and dragged down other chip stocks, while the Caution ahead of economic data and a presidential debate also shook confidence.
Shares of the memory chip maker lost 5.5% premarket after fourth-quarter revenue guidance largely met expectations and disappointed investors optimistic about its performance in the AI ​​boom. Optimism around AI-driven demand has sent the stock up 14% this month, ahead of earnings.
Other semiconductor stocks, including Nvidia, Arm Holdings, Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices, fell between 0.8% and 1.1%.
As a handful of expensive, heavily weighted stocks support Wall Street’s rally from the final leg of 2023, market participants have highlighted concerns about the sustainability of the rally and stressed the need to diversify portfolios to protect against possible significant losses.
Wall Street’s three major stock indexes posted modest gains Wednesday, with Amazon.com hitting the $2 trillion market capitalization mark for the first time. Shares of the distribution giant fell slightly on Thursday, in a context of sluggish transactions for very large capitalization technology stocks.
Focus now shifts to a raft of economic data, including durable goods for May, weekly jobless claims and first-quarter PCE and GDP figures before markets open, just a day before the indicator The Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation measure – monthly personal consumption expenditures (PCE). price index.
Investors have largely stuck to their view of about two rate cuts this year, according to FedWatch data from LSEG, even though the U.S. central bank has only planned one. The chances of a rate cut of at least 25 basis points in September stand at 56.4%.
Additionally, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are expected to face off in the first debate of the day, before their rematch in November.
As of 5:27 a.m. ET, the Dow e-minis were down 73 points, or 0.18%, the S&P 500 e-minis were down 8.75 points, or 0.16%, and the e-minis were down 8.75 points, or 0.16%. -minis of the Nasdaq 100 were down 39.5 points, or 0.2%.
On the earnings front, Walgreens Boots Alliance will detail its results before the market opens, with an increase of 2.1% at the start of the session, while Nike will after the close.
Jeans maker Levi Strauss fell 15% after missing expectations for its second-quarter revenue, while U.S.-listed shares of Canada’s BlackBerry rose 7.2% after topping first quarter revenue estimates.
International Paper fell 14.8% after the world’s largest pulp maker, Brazil’s Suzano, ended negotiations to buy the U.S.-based company.
(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bangalore; editing by Maju Samuel)
