U.S. equity futures moved lower on Thursday as investors looked ahead to key U.S. labour market data later in the week and weighed ongoing geopolitical developments. Oil prices stabilised after recent losses, Samsung delivered a stronger-than-expected profit outlook for the fourth quarter, and Bitcoin dropped back below the $91,000 level.
U.S. futures drift lower
U.S. stock futures were under modest pressure in early trading as caution set in ahead of the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report and amid persistent global tensions.
At 03:05 ET, Dow futures were down 116 points, or 0.2%, S&P futures slipped 13 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures declined by 81 points, or 0.3%.
In the previous session, Wall Street finished mixed. The Nasdaq Composite advanced, supported by gains in major technology names such as Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG). Meanwhile, weakness in sectors including financials and energy weighed on the broader S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Investor attention was also drawn to a series of policy announcements from U.S. President Donald Trump. These included proposals to block institutional investors from buying single-family homes to address housing shortages, prohibit defence contractors from paying dividends or conducting share buybacks, and raise U.S. defence spending by more than 50% to $1.5 trillion by 2027. It remains uncertain whether these measures could be implemented without congressional approval.
Commenting on the developments, analysts at Vital Knowledge said: “The housing and defense dividend/buyback announcements weighed on investor sentiment as they were just the latest examples of the Trump 2.0 White House intervening in the economy in an unprecedented fashion.”
Oil prices steady after recent losses
Oil prices edged higher but gave up part of their earlier gains after a Wall Street Journal report suggested the U.S. may seek long-term control over Venezuelan oil production.
Crude had found some support after falling for two consecutive sessions, amid concerns that global oversupply could worsen if Venezuelan output increases. Earlier this week, Trump said Venezuela would hand over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to Washington—valued at up to $3 billion—shortly after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Additional support came from data showing a larger-than-expected weekly drawdown in U.S. crude inventories, while continued conflict between Russia and Ukraine helped maintain a degree of risk premium in prices.
By 23:01 ET, Brent futures were up 0.2% at $60.07 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude also rose 0.2% to $56.03 a barrel. Both benchmarks had fallen more than 1% in each of the prior two sessions.
Samsung flags sharp jump in Q4 profit
Samsung Electronics (USOTC:SSNHZ) surprised markets with a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter profit forecast, as surging memory chip prices boosted earnings amid supply constraints driven by artificial intelligence demand.
The company projected operating profit of 20 trillion won ($13.82 billion) for the October–December period, well above Reuters/LSEG expectations of 18 trillion won and more than triple the 6.49 trillion won recorded a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter is expected to reach around 93 trillion won, up from 75.79 trillion won in the same period last year.
The upbeat outlook was largely attributed to sharply rising memory prices, as AI-focused companies absorbed a significant share of Samsung’s output, tightening supply conditions.
Chinese chip stocks advance on Nvidia report
Chinese semiconductor shares moved higher after reports that Beijing has instructed certain domestic technology firms to pause orders for Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips.
The move appears to be part of a broader review by Chinese authorities over whether and under what conditions access to the H200 should be permitted, reflecting efforts to balance the development of domestic chip capabilities with reliance on foreign technology.
Several local AI and semiconductor stocks rose in early trading. Hong Kong-listed Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp gained more than 0.3%, Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd jumped over 2.6%, and Shanghai-listed Cambricon Technologies advanced by more than 3.3%.
Bitcoin drops below $91,000
Bitcoin fell during European trading hours, extending a pullback from its early-year rebound as risk appetite weakened amid heightened geopolitical tensions in Latin America and Asia.
Caution ahead of Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report also curbed speculative positioning in crypto markets, as investors sought clearer signals on the strength of the U.S. labour market and the implications for Federal Reserve interest rate policy.
Sentiment was further clouded by uncertainty surrounding crypto treasury companies, particularly Strategy Inc., one of the largest corporate holders of Bitcoin. The company, which is down nearly 50% so far in 2025, saw limited relief after MSCI said earlier this week it would not proceed with plans to remove digital asset treasury firms from its indices.
Bitcoin was last down 2.4% at $90,449.9 by 03:35 ET.