U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Thursday as investors took a pause after expectations of an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut lifted Wall Street's main indexes to new highs in the previous session, while caution prevailed ahead of a fresh batch of economic data.
Market Snapshot
At 7:40 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 49 points, or 0.10%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 6.75 points, and 0.10% Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 5.75 points, or 0.02%.
Pre-Market Movers
UiPath - UiPath shares surged 8.2% after the software company reported third-quarter results and guidance that topped Wall Street's forecast.
Salesforce - Salesforce raised its fiscal 2026 revenue and adjusted profit forecasts, anticipating growth in its artificial intelligence agent platform due to strong enterprise demand, sending its shares up 1.5%.
Snowflake - Snowflake forecast fourth-quarter product revenue above analysts' estimates but falls short of lofty investor expectations for stronger growth, sending its shares down 8%.
C3.ai - C3.ai fell 1% after the AI company reported that revenue for its second quarter fell 20% from a year earlier, which overshadowed a narrower-than-expected loss for the period. The stock has taken a battering this year, tumbling 56% amid concerns about the sharp drop in sales.
Symbotic - Symbotic shares tumbled 14.1% after announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of 10,000,000 shares of its Class A common stock by the Company and SVF Sponsor III (DE) LLC, an affiliate of SoftBank Group Corp.
Robot Stocks - Robot stocks jumped again in premarket trading on Thursday following reports that the Trump administration is planning to accelerate development of the robotics industry, potentially benefiting companies in the automation sector. Arbe Robotics and Nauticus Robotics rose 5%.
Chinese ADRs - Some Chinese ADRs rallied in premarket trading as softer data on the US jobs market reinforced bets on an interest-rate cut next week. Hesai Group rose 5%; NIO rose 4%; XPeng and Bilibili rose 3%; Baidu rose 1%.
Guidewire - Guidewire Software added 6.2% after the software company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its fisca first quarter.
Philips - US-listed shares of Philips sank 6.3% in premarket trading on Thursday, after traders flagged concerns about growth expectations and tariff headwinds following comments from the Dutch health technology company at a conference.
Dollar General - Dollar General raised its annual profit forecast on Thursday, banking on resilient demand at its discount stores, as well as its efforts to cut costs and reduce inventory-related damages. Shares of the company, which also raised its annual comparable sales forecast, were up 6.3% premarket.
Five Below - Five Below raised its profit outlook for the third time in its fiscal year, lifted by demand for budget-friendly trendy goods as US consumer sentiment wanes amid high prices and a weaker labor market. The shares rose 4.5%.
PVH - Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein parent PVH shares fell 1.4% on downbeat quarterly forecasts amidmacroeconomic and global trade uncertainties.
Fastly - Fastly shares dropped 4.3% following the cloud computing services provider’s announcement of a private offering of $125 million in convertible senior notes due 2030.
Market News
Trump Could Decide Next Year to Withdraw from USMCA Trade Deal, USTR Greer Tells Politico
U.S. President Donald Trump could decide next year to withdraw from the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA), Politico reported on Thursday, citing U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
“The president’s view is he only wants deals that are a good deal. The reason why we built a review period into USMCA was in case we needed to revise it, review it or exit it,” Greer told Politico's White House bureau chief Dasha Burns in a podcast episode that airs Friday.
Greer also raised the idea of negotiating separately with Canada and Mexico and dividing the agreement into two parts in the podcast, adding that he spoke with Trump about that possibility just this week.
Nvidia Scores Win as Congress Rejects Bid to Curb Chip Exports
Nvidia Corp. is on the verge of securing a massive lobbying win after US lawmakers kept a measure out of must-pass defense legislation that would have limited the company’s ability to sell their advanced artificial intelligence chips to China and other adversary nations.
The so-called GAIN AI Act would require chipmakers, including Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., to give American customers first dibs on their powerful AI chips before selling in China and other arms-embargoed countries. Lawmakers sought to advance the proposal as part of the annual defense policy bill, which is set to be released on Friday. A person familiar with the defense bill said it is not in the bill, though the situation could still change unexpectedly.
The decision caps a fierce lobbying fight that pitted China hawks and AI safety advocates against Nvidia and other industry players, which have sought to expand their market access to Beijing. Nvidia argued the legislation would restrict global competition for advanced chips, insisting it wasn’t necessary because the company would not deprive American customers seeking to buy high-powered chips.
The high-stakes battle culminated in Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang coming to Washington on Wednesday to meet with President Donald Trump and key lawmakers. Huang told reporters outside of Speaker Mike Johnson’s office that he was in town to “answer questions about AI.”
Later, Huang called lawmakers’ decision to not include GAIN AI in the defense bill “wise” and compared it to another policy Nvidia has fought against.
Bessent Under Discussion to Also Lead National Economic Council
Donald Trump’s aides and allies are discussing the possibility of making Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent the top White House economic adviser — in addition to his current job — should the president pick Kevin Hassett as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, according to people familiar with the matter.
Tapping Bessent to lead the White House’s National Economic Council would allow him to consolidate oversight of Trump’s economic policies if Hassett — the current NEC director — becomes the next leader of the US central bank, an announcement Trump has hinted at in recent days. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss potential moves that have not been finalized.
If Bessent is also named to the NEC, he would become the chief arbiter of the administration’s economic portfolio spanning the purview of both the Treasury Department and White House. It would also give Bessent a West Wing office, granting him even more physical proximity to the president.
SEC Punts Controversial Short-Sale Disclosure Deadline Again
The US Securities and Exchange Commission delayed for the second time this year the deadline for hedge funds and other big investors to comply with much-watched disclosure rules for short selling and related stock lending.
Investment managers will now have until Jan. 2, 2028 to comply with the short-sale rules and until Sept. 28, 2028 on the related stock lending disclosures, the SEC said in an order Wednesday.
“The Commission finds these temporary exemptions to be necessary in the public interest and consistent with the protection of investors,” the agency said in the order.
While short selling has long been a practice in US markets, it has faced heightened scrutiny following the 2008 financial crisis and after investors piled into so-called memestocks like GameStop Corp. in 2021.
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