Stock Market Today: Stock Futures Rise as Tech Stocks Gain Ground Amid Easing AI Fears

Futures were pointing to a higher open for the major stock indexes on Wednesday as the AI rally found its footing after a string of volatile sessions colored by concerns about AI-driven disruption.

Futures contracts connected to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up 0.5% in premarket trading Wednesday, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.2%. All three major indexed eked out tiny gains on Tuesday in a volatile session driven by rising and ebbing tech jitters.

Tech stocks found their footing Wednesday. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) were up 2% in early trading after social media giant Meta (META) announced a new deal to buy millions of its chips. Meta shares were slightly lower premarket. Several other AI “pick and shovel” stocks were higher premarket, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) and Western Digital (WDC).

The remainder of the Magnificent Seven stocks were in the green ahead of the opening bell. Shares of Amazon (AMZN) rose more than 1% despite Berkshire Hathaway reporting on Tuesday it had sold nearly all of its stake in the e-commerce giant. Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), and Tesla (TSLA) were marginally higher.

On the earnings front, shares of Palo Alto Networks (PANW) tumbled after its earnings guidance came up short of expectations. The stocks of chip firms Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) and Analog Devices (ADI) surged after each topped estimates on the top and bottom lines.

The 10-year Treasury yield, which impacts interest rates on a variety of consumer loans including mortgages, was recently 4.07%, unchanged from Tuesday’s close.

Gold and silver futures rebounded from their slump yesterday. Gold was recently up about 1.5% at $4,975 an ounce, while silver was up 3.5% at $76.20 an ounce. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, was up about 2.5% at $64 a barrel.

Bitcoin recently traded around $67,500, little changed from Tuesday evening. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of currencies, was up 0.1% at 97.25.