Stock Market Today: Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones Futures Rise Ahead Of Delayed September Jobs Report—Nvidia, Palo Alto, Super Micro Computer In Focus

U.S. stock futures rose on Thursday after Wednesday’s advances. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher.

Investors await September’s job report, which is scheduled to be released today after the end of the record-long government shutdown last week.

According to the FOMC minutes, released Wednesday, Federal Reserve officials appear sharply divided on the future path of interest rates. There was a split among participants following their decision to lower the federal funds target range to 3.75%–4.00%.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.13% and the two-year bond was at 3.60%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 33.8% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates during its December meeting.

Futures	Change (+/-)
Dow Jones	0.44%
S&P 500	1.08%
Nasdaq 100	1.47%
Russell 2000	0.61%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was up 1.01% at $669.35, while the QQQ advanced 1.37% to $608.07, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Stocks In Focus

Nvidia

• Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose 5.55% in premarket on Thursday after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and issuing a strong revenue forecast for the current quarter.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that NVDA maintains a stronger price trend over the long and medium terms but a weak trend in the short term, with a solid quality ranking. Additional performance details are available here.

Palo Alto Networks

• Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) dropped 4.15% despite beating estimates as its full-year guidance was revised to be just in line with analyst expectations. For the second quarter, it forecasted revenue between $2.57 billion and $2.59 billion, with adjusted EPS projected at $0.93 to $0.95. Meanwhile, the Wall Street consensus calls for $2.58 billion in revenue and earnings of $0.93 per share.

• PANW maintained a weaker price trend over the short and medium terms, but a strong trend in the long term, with a strong value ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Super Micro Computer

• Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) gained 5.87% after the launch of integrated AI factory systems with Nvidia Corp.’s Blackwell technology.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings shows that SMCI maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate value ranking. Additional information is available here.

Walmart

• Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was up 0.83% ahead of its earnings, expected to be released before the opening bell. Wall Street expects earnings of 60 cents per share on revenue of $177.43 billion.

• It maintained a weaker price trend over the short term but a strong trend in the medium and long terms, with a strong quality ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Intuit

• Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) was 0.37% higher as analysts expect it to report earnings of $3.09 per share on revenue of $3.76 billion after the closing bell.

• INTU maintained a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a solid quality ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Cues From Last Session

Information technology, communication services, and materials stocks led the gains on Wednesday, while the energy and utilities sectors bucked the trend to close lower.

Index	Performance (+/-)	Value
Nasdaq Composite	0.59%	22,564.23
S&P 500	0.38%	6,642.16
Dow Jones	0.10%	46,138.77
Russell 2000	-0.036%	2,347.89

Insights From Analysts

BlackRock maintains a “pro-risk stance” focused on U.S. equities and the artificial intelligence (AI) theme, underpinned by the belief that a cooling labor market will allow the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

They characterize the current economic backdrop as a “no hiring, no firing” stasis, suggesting the labor market is softening enough to support rate cuts without deteriorating into a recession.

Despite recent volatility in tech stocks driven by debt concerns, BlackRock views the capital-intensive phase of the AI buildout as a “necessary step” rather than a warning sign.

Strong third-quarter earnings from dominant AI companies reinforce this conviction.

Following the end of the U.S. government shutdown, BlackRock is prioritizing the analysis of backlogged economic data to confirm its thesis that the economic environment remains supportive of risk assets.

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Thursday;

• September’s U.S. employment report, unemployment rate, hourly wages, and initial jobless claims for the latest week will be out by 8:30 a.m. ET.
• October’s existing home sales and U.S. leading economic indicators are likely to be released by 10:00 a.m. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook will speak at 11:00 a.m., Fed President Austan Goolsbee at 1:40 p.m., and Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson will speak at 6:45 p.m. ET.

Commodities, Gold, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets

Crude oil futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 0.78% to hover around $59.70 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.37% to hover around $4,062.86 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $4,381.6 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.04% lower at the 100.1840 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 0.31% higher at $91,662.15 per coin.

Asian markets closed higher on Thursday, except China’s CSI 300 index. India’s NIFTY 50, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Australia’s ASX 200, and South Korea’s Kospi indices rose. European markets were mostly higher in early trade.

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