(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday, thanks to an upbeat forecast from TSMC that semiconductor stocks will lift, as investors waited for key economic data for clues about the financial health of U.S. consumers.
Profit at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, exceeded market expectations and the company forecast a rise in fourth-quarter sales, driven by demand for artificial intelligence chips.
The chipmaker’s U.S. listed shares rose 8% in premarket trading, while AI trade favorite Nvidia gained 2.4%.
Broadcom rose 2.3%, Intel gained 1.3% and Arm Holdings was up 3.7%.
Stocks advanced in Wednesday’s session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its third record high in four sessions, while declines in mega-cap tech stocks were offset by a rally in small-cap and financial stocks.
Futures tracking the small-cap Russell 2000 were slightly higher, up 0.1%, after the index closed at its highest level in nearly three years.
Megacap shares rose after a broad decline in the previous session, with Apple up 0.7% and Alphabet up 0.6%.
The focus now turns to the US economic outlook, with September retail sales and industrial production, as well as weekly unemployment benefits data due that day.
“US growth indicators are now being closely monitored by the market and a slight recovery in retail sales is expected in September after sales slowed in August,” SEB Research analysts said.
Dow E-minis rose 35 points, or 0.08%, US S&P 500 E-minis rose 22.75 points, or 0.39%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis rose 146.5 points, or 0.72% .
Another busy day of corporate earnings lies ahead, with streaming giant Netflix set to report third-quarter results after the bell. Shares rose 0.5% in premarket trading.
A generally upbeat start to the third quarter earnings season, in the wake of strong economic data and the start of the US Federal Reserve’s policy easing cycle, injected renewed optimism into equity markets, pushing the benchmark index to new record highs pushed.
Still, analysts have increasingly identified higher valuations, high earnings expectations and likely volatility ahead of the US presidential election in November as risk factors for year-end.
Huntington Bancshares and insurer Travelers Companies are among the companies whose results are expected before the market opens.
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee will also speak later in the day.
According to CME’s FedWatch, the Fed is still widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points at its next meeting in November.
(Reporting by Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
