Investing.com – Futures linked to the main U.S. stock indices are mixed, as investors prepare for the first trading session of the fourth quarter after they endured a roller-coaster September for financial markets. Micron unveils an upbeat revenue outlook, underlining strong demand for artificial intelligence memory chips. Nike is set to report its latest results, with investors keen to see progress in the athletic apparel brand’s turnaround strategy.
1. Futures mixed
U.S. stock futures hovered around both sides of the flatline on Thursday. By 03:34 ET (07:34 GMT), the Dow futures contract had fallen by 219 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 futures had inched up by 4 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had increased by 161 points, or 0.5%.
The main averages on Wall Street also finished in mixed fashion on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both retreating, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced.
U.S. Treasury yields once again rose, despite cooler-than-anticipated August personal consumption expenditures data sparking a brief surge of optimism around the path of inflation. Traders are now looking ahead to the release of key U.S. employment data for September, which could help outline the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate trajectory.
For the month, which has been marked by ongoing tensions in the Middle East and a deep bond-market rout, the S&P fell 0.45%, the Dow dropped 4.29%, and the Nasdaq gained 1.86%.
Both the Nasdaq and S&P managed to secure a second consecutive quarterly advance, and the fifth in the last six. Meanwhile, the Dow dipped in the July-September period.
2. Micron results
Shares of Micron edged higher in extended hours trading, after the chipmaker unveiled a quarterly revenue forecast that topped expectations.
The Idaho-based group, which has been a major beneficiary of runaway AI-memory-chip demand, added that customers had increased their commitments under its long-term supply agreements to $32 billion, up from $22 billion reported in June.
Businesses have been racing to get their hands on memory chips as they push to rapidly build out the data centers powering AI models, leading to a shortage of these processors that has helped drive up their price. Micron, whose clients include AI chip giant Nvidia, has reaped the benefits.
Against this backdrop, Micron’s stock price has more than tripled so far this year, giving the company a $1 trillion market capitalization and stoking hype that AI could propel further growth.
