United States stock futures traded higher on Wednesday night (Thursday AEST) after technology shares powered the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to fresh record highs during the regular trading session.
By 9:20 am AEST (11:20 pm GMT), Dow futures were up 0.2%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.5%.
In extended trading, Cisco Systems surged 18.8% after the networking and software company reported quarterly earnings and guidance that exceeded Wall Street expectations.
Cisco posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.06 versus $1.03 expected on revenue of $15.8 billion versus $15.56 billion expected.
For the current quarter, Cisco forecast adjusted EPS of between $1.16 and $1.18 on revenue ranging from $16.7 billion to $16.9 billion. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected EPS of $1.07 per share on revenue of $15.82 billion.
The company also announced plans to cut almost 4,000 jobs.
StubHub jumped 13% after reporting first-quarter revenue of $446.05 million and adjusted EBITDA of $72.1 million. Market expectations had been for revenue of $425.04 million and EBITDA of $65.1 million.
During Wednesday’s regular session, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite recorded fresh intraday and closing highs, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended slightly lower.
The Dow slipped 0.1%, the S&P 500 rose 0.6%, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.2%.
Investors continued to assess hotter-than-expected inflation data after April’s producer price index (PPI) increased 1.4%, marking the largest monthly rise since March 2022 and significantly exceeding economist forecasts.
Although concerns over rising energy prices pressured several sectors, technology shares, particularly semiconductor companies including Nvidia and Micron Technology, drove market gains.
The rally in technology stocks came as Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang accompanied U.S. President Donald Trump on his trip to Beijing for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Investors are also preparing for another busy day of corporate earnings, with Honda Motor, Viking Holdings, Klarna, and Versant Media among companies scheduled to report before Thursday’s opening bell.
Economic data due later Thursday includes April retail sales figures, export and import price indexes, and weekly initial jobless claims data covering the period ended 9 May.
