A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
NYSE
Stock futures were slightly lower on Wednesday evening as investors grew less wary of eye-watering AI valuations and were encouraged by the tone of a Supreme Court hearing on President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
S&P 500 futures ticked down 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell about 0.3%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 62 points, or 0.1%.
Investors increasingly expect the Supreme Court to rule against the Trump administration’s aggressive trade policy after high court justices on Wednesday expressed some skepticism about the trade taxes’ legality at a hearing in Washington. The potential ruling would trigger a rollback of the president’s tariffs, likely pushing stocks higher.
AI-linked equities have also begun rebounding from valuation concerns that swirled earlier this week—another potential boon for the major indexes.
Advanced Micro Devices closed more than 2% higher on Wednesday, after the semiconductor company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results. The performance pulled up some other AI stocks alongside it, including Broadcom and Micron Technology, which jumped 2% and 9% on the day, respectively. Oracle also recouped some recent losses during the session.
The recovery of the AI names helped the market bounce back on Wednesday following a soft start to the week that has all three major U.S. indexes in the red week to date.
“We’re still very early in the AI super-cycle,” Dynasty Financial Partners’ Shirl Penney told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Wednesday. “There’s going to be continued significant capex, not just with some of the ‘Mag Seven,’ but also you see it with large financial firms like Schwab, JPMorgan and others.”
Earnings season continues, with travel stocks Expedia and Airbnb as well as AI data center play Vistra among those reporting their latest financial results on Thursday.
