LDN - Business

Futures rebound after broad sell-off; Micron shines

[December 21, 2023] (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday, recovering from a broad sell-off on Wall Street in the prior session as investors clung on to hopes of borrowing costs easing next year, while chipmaker Micron advanced after delivering an upbeat forecast.

The three main indexes ended the previous session lower, with the benchmark S&P 500 notching its worst day since late September following a recent rally that saw the index within a percentage of its record closing high hit in early 2022.

Reaching a new closing high would confirm the benchmark index had been in a bull market since closing at the bear market floor in October 2022.

The rally gained steam after policymakers took an unexpected dovish change in tone on monetary policy outlook a week ago, sending yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. treasury note lower to 3.878% from multi-year highs it scaled in October. [US/]

Despite some push back from Federal Reserve officials, traders still expect at least a 25 basis points rate cut in as early as March next year, and a near 100% chance of a rate cut in May, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

On tap at 8:30 a.m. ET is the final domestic economic growth (GDP) estimate for the third quarter which is expected to stay unchanged from previous forecasts of 5.2%. Also due are weekly claims for state unemployment benefits that are expected to tick higher to 215,000, as per a Reuters poll.

The data points could throw light on the state of the U.S. economy in the wake of the Fed's fastest monetary tightening spree in years.

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Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Meanwhile, Micron Technology forecast quarterly revenue above market estimates, and its shares jumped 5.5% before the bell on signs of a memory chip recovery in 2024 after one of the most significant downturns in years.

Other chip makers like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices added over 1% each.

At 5:41 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 144 points, or 0.38%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 20.75 points, or 0.44%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 98.75 points, or 0.59%.

Boeing climbed 1.9% as the planemaker is set to restart deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner to China within days, a source told Reuters, a step that could pave the way for China to also end a more than four-year freeze on deliveries of Boeing's profit-making 737 MAX.

U.S. electric vehicle makers like Tesla Nikola and Lucid Group added between 1.2% and 4.0% after a report said the United States was considering tariff hikes on Chinese EV manufacturers.

U.S.-listed shares of BlackBerry slid 5.4% after the Canadian technology firm forecast fourth-quarter revenue below analysts' expectations.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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