Stock market today: Nasdaq jumps to lead US futures higher as Netflix soars, AI buzz returns

The Nasdaq led US stock futures higher on Wednesday after Donald Trump’s boost to AI demand hopes outweighed fresh tariff threats from the new US president.

Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) jumped 0.8%, bolstered by surprisingly strong earnings from Netflix (NFLX), and S&P 500 futures (ES=F) climbed 0.4%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) were up 0.1%, coming off a rise of over 500 points on a winning Tuesday on Wall Street.

Trump is in the driving seat for markets, with investors on alert for any fresh move in the president’s fast-flowing overhaul of policy. His latest push to make the US a leader in AI — an $500 billion private-sector investment plan and a roll-back of Biden-era safety measures — continued to give a bump to techs.

Shares in Oracle (ORCL), a partner in the “Stargate” venture, continued to rise, up almost 9% in pre-market trading on the prospect of higher AI spending. In Tokyo, SoftBank (9984.T, SFTBY) stock jumped 10%.

Meanwhile, Netflix stock soared 15% in early trading after it reported record new subscriber additions and beats on earnings and revenue.

Spirits were high despite heightened worries about a Trump-spurred trade war. The president said Tuesday his administration was considering imposing a 10% duty on China imports on Feb. 1, as he vowed to hit the EU with additional tariffs.

The stepped-up tariff threats come after US stocks rallied on Tuesday amid relief that China wasn’t targeted in Trump’s first policy moves, which promised new duties for Mexico and Canada. Chinese stocks fell on Wednesday as markets were rattled by the new trade-defense plan.

Oil prices rose, coming off a run of declines as investors weighed the odds of trade war. Gold (GC=F) gained, but was easing back from an 11-week intraday high earlier in the morning.

Corporate earnings continued to roll in. Before the bell, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) posted quarterly sales and profit above estimates thanks to strong sales of cancer treatments. Shares of Procter & Gamble (PG) popped after its sales also beat forecasts.

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