Futures Pointing To Initial Strength On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. Index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Thursday, with stocks likely to move to the upside following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.

Semiconductor stocks may lead an early advance on Wall Street after helping the tech-heavy Nasdaq recover from an early slump to end Wednesday's trading modestly higher.

The Nasdaq 100 futures are jumping by 1 percent as shares of Micron Technology (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK) surge in pre-market trading.

However, traders may be reluctant to make significant moves as they keep an eye on the latest developments regarding the conflict in the Middle East.

U.S. Central Command said forces conducted an additional round of strikes against Iran on Wednesday, attacking about 90 military targets in an effort to further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

"This is in retribution for yesterday's bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!" President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Iran reportedly responded to the latest round of U.S. airstrikes with attacks targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump claimed Iran wants to "make a deal so badly" but questioned whether they are "worthy of making a deal."

After moving sharply lower early in the session, stocks regained ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session, with the Nasdaq reaching positive territory.

The Dow slumped 576.76 points or 1.1 percent to 52,348.39, pulling back further off their record closing high set on Monday. The S&P 500 also fell 21.14 points or 0.3 percent to 7,482.71, but the Nasdaq rose 51.96 points or 0.2 percent to 25,870.65.

The early weakness on Wall Street came amid concerns about a re-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East after President Donald Trump declared the U.S.-Iran ceasefire "over."

"As far as I'm concerned, it's over," Trump told reporters at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, calling negotiations with Iran a "waste of time."

The president later said that the U.S. will "very probably" attack Iran "hard again tonight."

Trump's comments have contributed to a surge by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures spiking by more than 5 percent. The jump in prices led to renewed concerns about the outlook for inflation and interest rates.

However, stocks regained ground over the course of the session as crude oil prices pullback off their highs of the session.

Trump's remarks came after U.S. Central Command said it completed a new round of offensive strikes against Iran, hitting over 80 targets in response to Iran's latest attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed they targeted U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait hours after the U.S. strikes.

Housing stocks moved sharply lower amid concerns about the outlook for interest rates, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 3.8 percent.

Substantial weakness was also visible among gold stocks, which tumbled along with the price of the precious metal. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plunged by 3.6 percent to its lowest closing level in over seven months.

Airline, banking and commercial real estate stocks also saw significant weakness, while energy stocks rallied amid the surge by the price of crude oil.

Computer hardware and semiconductor stocks also turned in strong performances on the day, contributing to the recovery by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are climbing $0.34 to $73.86 a barrel after spiking $3.08 to $73.52 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after plummeting $75 to $4,082.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $34.30 to $4,116.70 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 162.41 yen versus the 162.58 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1429 compared to yesterday's $1.1414.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday, giving up some early gains as investors digested Chinese inflation data and monitored escalating hostilities in the Middle East.

U.S. forces conducted strikes against Iran for a second straight day on Wednesday, but President Donald Trump said he expects the military flare-up will end very quickly and the U.S. is not looking for a long-term war.

Regional gains, if any, were limited due to renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as well as uncertainty over the outlook for artificial intelligence demand.

The dollar struggled to find direction in Asian trading after the FOMC minutes from the June 16-17 meeting reinforced the central bank's cautious stance.

Gold rebounded after three days of losses to trade above $4,100 an ounce. Brent crude prices fell more than 1 percent to trade below $78 a barrel after Trump claimed any renewed fighting with Iran would end "very quickly."

"I don't think it's going to start again. If they hit, we hit ten times harder. Anything that happens will get over very quickly and we'll make things safer, even for oil," Trump said.

China's Shanghai Composite Index surged 1.7 percent to 4,036.59 after the release of mixed inflation data. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 percent to 24,030.18.

Chinese consumer inflation slowed more than expected in June, while the producer price Index surged for a fourth straight month to its highest since July 2022, official data released earlier today showed.

Japanese markets rebounded sharply after a three-day losing streak. The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.4 percent to 67,743.85 as AI-related shares followed their U.S. peers higher. The broader Topix Index closed 0.4 percent higher at 4,020.37.

Advantest jumped 5.9 percent and Tokyo Electron added 5.5 percent after Apple expanded its Broadcom partnership with a $30 billion chip deal and reports suggested that Beijing is considering limited approvals for Nvidia H200 chip purchases by select AI companies.

Seoul stocks ended notably higher on institutional buying. The Kospi Index surged more than 3 percent in early trade before trimming gains to end 0.6 percent higher at 7,291.91, led by a rebound in technology stocks.

Chip giant SK Hynix soared 5.3 percent after its U.S. listing was oversubscribed more than seven times. Flash memory chip maker Kioxia Holdings jumped 8.3 percent despite Bain Capital selling its entire stake in the company.

Australian markets ended lower for a fourth consecutive session due to selling in mining, gold and real estate stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped 0.3 percent to 8,762.50, while the broader All Ordinaries Index slipped 0.2 percent to 8,961.30.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index gained 0.9 percent to close at 13,785.67, ending at a record high after data showed New Zealand's manufacturing activity rose sharply to hit a five-year high in June.

Europe

European stocks are modestly higher on Thursday while oil prices fell after the U.S. military attacked Iranian targets for a second straight day and President Donald Trump said the flare-up will end very quickly. U.S. airstrikes hit about 90 targets across Iran as Tehran targeted Gulf states.

In economic news, Germany's exports grew unexpectedly in May largely driven by the surge in shipments to the U.S., while overall imports dropped for the first time in four months, official data revealed earlier today.

Exports rose 0.9 percent in May from the previous month, in contrast to the expected fall of 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, imports decreased unexpectedly by 2.5 percent, reversing a 1.1 percent rise in April.

The French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.3 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 is down by 0.6 percent, dragged down by energy stocks such as BP Plc and Shell.

French biopharmaceutical company Ipsen has risen after it announced positive Dysport Phase III results for migraine prevention.

Bytes Technology Group has also rallied. The software, AI and cloud services provider said trading has been strong in the first fourth months that ended June 30.

Nordex has also surged. The German wind turbine maker said new wind turbine supply orders surged by close to a third in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca shares have plunged in London. The pharmaceutical group said its nerve disease drug Wainua failed to meet its target in a late-stage trial to reduce cardiovascular-related deaths.

U.S. Economic News

The Labor Department released a report on Thursday unexpectedly showing a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended July 4th.

The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 215,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 217,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 219,000 from the 215,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also slipped to 218,750, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average of 222,500.

At 9 am ET, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams is due to participate in a moderated discussion before "The Future of Market Liquidity and Functioning" Workshop.

The National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on existing home sales in the month of June at 10 am ET. Existing home sales are expected to increase to an annual rate of 4.20 million in June from an annual rate of 4.17 million in May.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month's auction of $22 billion worth of thirty-year bonds.

Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan is scheduled to moderate a "Market Liquidity and Leverage in a Digital Age" panel before "The Future of Market Liquidity and Functioning" Workshop at 1:30 pm ET.