By Ambar Warrick and Devik Jain
(Reuters) -The Nasdaq was set for a strong open on Thursday as chipmaker Nvidia rallied on robust third-quarter results, while the S&P and the Dow were on track for gains following a fresh batch of positive retail earnings.
Nvidia shares jumped 8.6% in premarket trade after the company beat quarterly estimates and forecast strong fourth-quarter revenue, expecting to benefit from growth in its data center business and investments in the metaverse.
Other chipmaker stocks including Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) Inc and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Inc rose 2.7% and 1.0%.
Strong retail earnings continued to pour in, with Macy's Inc (NYSE:M) and Kohl's Corp (NYSE:KSS) up 11.2% and 8.7%, respectively, after they raised their annual sales and profit forecasts.
Coty Inc added 0.8% after the Hugo Boss fragrance maker forecast modest revenue growth for the next several years. Shares of peer Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) Cos Inc slipped 2.8%
Positive readings from Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Inc and Target Corp (NYSE:TGT) this week showed that consumer sentiment has persevered through rising inflation, and that retailers are set for a strong holiday season.
"The stock market should resume its year-end rally based on the good earnings season and good macro news that's continuing to flow," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
"Inflation has gone up but for now the consumer is not showing any signs of pulling back. And that's a key."
Still, concerns over further increases in price pressure, along with uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's plans for tightening kept Wall Street somewhat muted this week.
Data also showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell slightly to 268,000 last week, from 269,000 in the prior week. The figure was still slightly above pre-pandemic levels.
The three major Wall Street indexes had ended lower on Wednesday.
At 8:11 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 30 points, or 0.08%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 11.5 points, or 0.25% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 78.75 points, or 0.48%.
Broader technology stocks also rose as investors sought sectors less exposed to rising inflation and supply chain issues.
Ecommerce platform Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) led gains among FAANG stocks, rising 0.6%.
Among other premarket movers, Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co rose 1.6% after Virgin Australia said it would add seven more 737 NG planes to its fleet, and as J.P. Morgan upgraded the planemaker's stock to "overweight" from "neutral".
Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) fell 6.4% after the network gear maker forecast current-quarter revenue below expectations as supply chain shortages and delays drive up costs.
Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) dipped 3.0% after the packaged food maker announced a secondary share offering.
U.S.-listed shares of Singapore-based Maxeon Solar Technologies fell 9.0% as the solar technology company forecast dismal fourth-quarter revenue after posting downbeat quarterly earnings.