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Investing.com-- Wall Street index futures rose marginally on Wednesday evening after a positive main session, as risk appetite remained buoyed by a recovery in technology stocks and confidence in more interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Trading volumes were dull before the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, while anticipation of key economic prints in the coming week also spurred some caution.
S&P 500 Futures rose slightly to 6,830.50 points by 19:23 ET (00:23 GMT). Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.1% to 25,321.25 points, while Dow Jones Futures rose 0.1% to 47,519.0 points.
Wall St logs fourth straight day of gains as tech recovers
Futures remained upbeat after Wall Street logged its fourth consecutive day of gains, amid a broader rebound in technology stocks.
Markets were encouraged by signs that business spending on artificial intelligence remained strong, although reports that Nvidia may face increased competition in making AI chips sparked some uneven gains in recent sessions.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose 1.4% after tumbling to an over two-month low in the prior session, after reports said Alphabet’s Google was planning to build its own AI chips, and was in talks with Meta over supplying its data centers.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) surged to a record high on the news, but fell some 1% on Wednesday. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) also fell slightly after clocking strong gains earlier this week.
Broader technology shares advanced, as they further recouped recent losses. Concerns over stretched AI valuations and circular funding in the industry had battered tech stocks through late-October and early-November.
Fed December rate cut bets rise, Powell successor in focus
Wall Street was also aided by increasing conviction that the Fed will cut interest rates in December, especially following some dovish commentary from officials, as well as middling September data on the U.S. economy.
Markets are pricing in a 82.2% chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points during its December 9-10 meeting, up sharply from a 24% chance seen last week, CME Fedwatch showed.
Bets on a cut surged this week after retail sales and producer inflation data for September read softer than expected.
Markets also speculated over a potentially dovish successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, after Bloomberg reported earlier this week that White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is seen as the frontrunner to become the next Chair.
Hassett– a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump– is widely expected to enact the president’s calls for sharply lower interest rates, presenting a dovish outlook for the central bank.
Powell’s term ends in May 2026, although Trump is expected to announce his successor earlier. The president has repeatedly attacked the Fed Chair for not acquiescing to his demands to sharply lower rates.