Dow Jones futures were little changed early Thursday, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. Nvidia chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reported second-quarter sales before the open with Delta Air Lines beating earnings views.
The stock market rally saw modest gains Wednesday, the Nasdaq hitting a fresh all-time high. Nvidia topped a $4 trillion market capitalization intraday, the first time any company has done so. Nvidia rival Broadcom, Google-parent Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Amazon.com — all with market caps above $1 trillion — also helped.
AI chipmaker Astera Labs and AI cybersecurity play Rubrik flashed buy signals.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures were just below fair value. S&P 500 futures were flat and Nasdaq 100 futures edged higher.
Crude oil fell nearly 1%.
Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
Taiwan Semi, Delta Results
Early Thursday, AI chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor reported Q2 sales jumped nearly 39% vs. a year earlier in Taiwanese dollars, or up 46% in U.S. dollars, beating views. Q2 earnings are due in a week. Taiwan Semi's results are important for Nvidia and other top customers such as Broadcom and Apple, as well as chip-equipment makers. Taiwan Semi stock nudged higher early Thursday.
Delta Air reported slightly better-than-expected Q2 earnings before the open and gave upbeat guidance for the summer quarter as well as restoring full-year targets. Delta stock surged more than 10%, signaling a possible buying opportunity above the 200-day line. Other big carriers rose as Delta kicked off airline earnings.
Other News
Late Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he'll impose a 50% tariff on Brazil, the highest rate in the recent batch of tariff letters, despite the U.S. having a trade surplus with the country. Trump cited the pending trial of former President Jair Bolsanaro. Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said his country will respond with reciprocity vs. Trump's new tariff. Jet maker Embraer tumbled in extended trade. MercadoLibre, whose largest market is Brazil, edged lower.
Trump also said his 50% copper tariff will kick in Aug. 1. U.S. opper futures rose modestly, adding to huge weekly gains.
MP Materials skyrocketed in early stock market trade after announcing a multi-billion dollar public-private partnership with the Defense Department o "dramatically accelerate the build-out of an end-to-end U.S. rare earth magnet supply chain and reduce foreign dependency."
Meanwhile, cereal giant WK Kellogg spiked 50% or more on a Wall Street Journal report that Italian candy maker Ferrero could buy it for $3 billion.
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Stock Market Rally
The stock market rally had modest-to-solid gains Wednesday, with the Nasdaq at a new high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% in Wednesday's stock market trading. The S&P 500 index climbed 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.9%. The small-cap Russell 2000 popped 1.1%, hitting its best levels since late February.
The major indexes' gains largely reflected Nvidia, Meta, Google, Broadcom and Amazon.
The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF edged up 0.3%.
The First Trust Nasdaq 100 Equal Weighted Index ETF was essentially flat, eking out a 0.08% gain.
But both continue to trade in a mini-range this week after a strong run, with QQEW around record levels.
In any case, leading stocks had a solid session. Several bounced back after retreating Tuesday, including Rubrik.
U.S. crude oil prices rose five cents to $68.38 a barrel.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell seven basis points to 4.34%, snapping a five-session win streak.
ETFs
Among growth ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF bounced 1.6%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF climbed 0.4%, with Rubrik stock a component. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF advanced 0.7%. Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor and Broadcom stock account for more than 40% of SMH's total weighting. ARK Innovation ETF popped 2.1% and ARK Genomics ETF rallied 3.9%.
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF dipped 0.2%. U.S. Global Jets ETF descended 0.3%, with Delta stock a notable component. The Energy Select SPDR ETF declined 0.5%. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund and Financial Select SPDR ETF gained 0.4%. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund advanced 0.7%.
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Nvidia Stock Hits $4 Trillion
Nvidia stock rose 1.8% on Wednesday, hitting a record high. Nvidia's market cap briefly topped $4 trillion and closed at $3.974 trillion, both all-time records for any company.
Broadcom climbed 2.2% while NYSE-listed Taiwan Semiconductor gained 1.65%.
All three stocks are extended.
Nvidia and Broadcom edged higher in premarket trade in the wake of Taiwan Semi's sales.
Other Tech Titans
Google stock climbed 1.3% on Wednesday to 176.60, approaching a 181.23 cup-with-handle buy point.
Amazon stock rose 1.45% to 222.54, rising within a buy zone from a cup-with-handle base. The buy point is 214.84, according to MarketSurge, though investors also could have used 218.40.
Meta stock gained 1.7% to 732.78, near record highs and extended from a 662.67 cup-with-handle buy point cleared on June 1. Existing investors could have used Wednesday's action as a chance to add a few more shares.
Best Growth Stocks To Buy And Watch
Astera, Rubrik Stock Flash Buy Signals
Meanwhile, Astera Labs stock leapt 8.2% on Wednesdasy to 99.86, rebounding from the 21-day, 10-week and 40-week moving averages, as well as breaking short-term and long-term trendlines. That offered early entries, with 101.82 also an entry. ALAB stock, a 2024 IPO, is a relative market cap minnow at $16.45 billion.
Astera Labs rose more than 3% early Thursday, above 103. Taiwan Semi makes Astera Labs' chips.
Rubrik stock jumped 5.4% to 91.59, rebounding from the 50-day line and clearing Monday's high of 91.16, offering an early entry in an emerging consolidation. On Tuesday, RBRK stock fell 3.3%, but didn't show technical damage.
Rubrik shares climbed slightly early Thursday.
What To Do Now
The stock market rally is in good shape. Yes, Nvidia and other titans led the way Wednesday, but there have been broad, powerful gains over the past three months.
Breakouts have been tricky this week due to some sideways market action, but leading stocks generally are looking strong after big advances.
Heavy market exposure and not making many new moves is a sound strategy right now.
Work on watchlists and review your current holdings.
Broadcom stock and Rubrik are on IBD Leaderboard. Amazon stock, Rubrik and Broadcom are on SwingTrader. Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor stock are on the IBD 50. Nvidia stock is on IBD Sector Leaders.
Astera Labs was Wednesday's IBD Stock Of The Day.
Read The Big Picture every day to stay in sync with the market direction and leading stocks and sectors.
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