The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Thursday, with stocks likely to give back ground after turning in a strong performance in recent sessions.
Traders may look to cash in on recent strength in the markets, which has seen stocks largely offset the sell-off seen earlier this month.
The S&P 500 reached a new record intraday high on Wednesday before giving back some ground, while the Nasdaq is also back within striking distance of its record highs.
Lingering concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump’s proposed tariff policies may also weigh on Wall Street.
Trump is scheduled to deliver the keynote address before the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this morning.
U.S. stocks closed on a firm note on Wednesday as investors reacted positively to some upbeat earnings updates and corporate news and on continued optimism about a few interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.
Worries about tariff threats lingered but investors largely shrugged off concerns and kept picking up stocks.
The major averages all closed on a strong note, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq recording a more pronounced gain thanks to buoyant earnings and sales guidance by Netflix and Trump’s AI initiative.
The Dow closed up 130.92 points or 0.3 percent, at 44,156.73. The S&P 500 gained 37.13 points or 0.6 percent, settling at 6,086.37, while the Nasdaq jumped 252.56 points or 1.3 percent, to 20,009.34.
Trump’s announcement of a $500 billion private-sector AI infrastructure investment plan from a venture involving Oracle, Open AI and Softbank set the stage for tech stocks’ strong performance.
Oracle shares surged nearly 7 percent, NVIDIA climbed about 4.2 percent, Microsoft gained nearly 4 percent and Meta Platforms closed up by about 2.7 percent.
Netflix soared nearly 10 percent after the company reported an addition of 19 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, the biggest ever subscriber gains in any quarter. Netflix’s bottom line came in at $1.869 billion or $4.27 per share in the fourth quarter, compared with $938 million or $2.11 per share last year.
Among other prominent gainers in the session, Amazon, Eli Lilly, Procter & Gamble, Salesforce, Cisco Systems, American Express, Analog Devices and Nike advanced 1 to 2 percent.
Pfizer, Booking Holdings, Morgan Stanley, Merck, Chevron Corporation, Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, Tesla and Exxon Mobil Corporation closed notably lower.
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