Stock Futures Rise As Traders Watch Earnings, Data: Markets Wrap

US stock futures edged higher, pointing to gains on Wall Street on a busy day for earnings.

Contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3% as higher memory-chip prices created winners and losers. Micron Technology Inc. rose almost 4% in premarket trading, while concern about climbing costs sent Cisco Systems Inc. 7% lower. Treasuries traded little changed, leaving the 10-year yield at 4.16%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady.

With US stocks lagging gains in Asia and Latin America this year, the moves underscore how sensitive the market has become to companies’ exposure to the infrastructure behind the AI boom. Memory-chip shortages and pricing are coming up frequently as topics in company earnings reports and conference calls.

“This is a year of the bullish stock market, but a very volatile stock market — and the volatility will be induced by the AI trade, which is evolving,” said Beata Manthey, head of European Equity Strategy at Citigroup Inc. “Right now we are concentrating on losers. But we also need to discover who the new winners are going to be.”

Meanwhile, traders are keeping a close eye on key US economic data. Jobs numbers on Wednesday came in surprisingly strong, and attention now turns to weekly jobless claims later Thursday and Friday’s inflation report for clues on future policy moves by the Federal Reserve.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index advanced 0.4%, boosted by a strong slate of earnings from companies including Siemens AG and eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica SA. Schroders Plc jumped 30% on news Nuveen is buying the asset manager.

Elsewhere, Bitcoin briefly slid under $67,000, while Japan’s super-long bonds extended their post-vote rally as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s historic election win soothed investor concerns about fiscal policy.

Asian Outperformance

Asian equities advanced for a fifth day, stretching their lead over US peers this year as relatively cheaper valuations and firmer growth prospects lured buyers. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is up about 13% so far in 2026, its best start to the year relative to the S&P 500 this century.

The region’s markets are outpacing peers in the US and Europe, drawing global investors who have gradually unwound some of their dollar exposure. Asia’s biggest tech companies are indispensable to the AI supply chain as companies channel billions of dollars into the technology, reshaping and disrupting multiple industries.

The US gauge ranks 69th among the 92 stock indexes around the world tracked by Bloomberg. South Korea is the world’s best-performing market with a 30% surge.

Corporate Highlights:

Micron shares rose as CFO Mark Murphy talks about supply-demand tightness beyond 2026 and provides HBM4 production updates.
Equinix shares rallied about 8% in premarket trading on Thursday after the data center operator’s 2026 revenue guidance beat the average analyst estimate.
Cisco Systems gave a weaker-than-expected forecast for profitability in the current quarter, spurring concerns that mounting memory-chip prices are taking a toll on the company.
Nuveen is buying Schroders Plc in a £9.9 billion ($13.5 billion) deal, creating one of the world’s largest active asset managers with nearly $2.5 trillion of assets.
EssilorLuxottica SA reported an 18% surge in fourth-quarter sales, riding a boom in demand for AI-powered glasses that far surpassed analysts’ estimates.
Magnum Ice Cream Co. shares fell as much as 16% in Amsterdam after the former Unilever Plc unit disappointed investors with a large drop in operating profit last year.
Mercedes-Benz Group AG warned that margins will remain under pressure this year amid tariffs and fierce competition in China.
Siemens AG raised its outlook after demand for factory automation and electrification products boosted returns to help cushion negative currency effects.
Hermès sales grew on robust demand for its coveted Birkin bags, with one of the luxury industry’s most resilient players chalking up gains across all markets and most of its products.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks