US stock futures were little changed on Thursday as investors weighed a retreat in oil and Treasury yields against fresh uncertainty from the Middle East and mixed signals from major technology earnings.
Dow futures rose about 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts gained roughly 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively, after Wall Street snapped a three-session losing streak on Wednesday.
Brent crude remained near $95 a barrel, keeping inflation risks in focus, while the 10-year Treasury yield eased to around 4.77%.
Broadcom slipped after earnings, Snowflake surged, and Friday’s US jobs report loomed as the next major test for markets.
5 things to know before Wall Street opens
1. Oil remains the biggest macro risk
Oil eased in early trading, but prices remain high enough to keep investors nervous about inflation and interest rates.
Brent traded around $95 a barrel while WTI hovered above $90 as markets assessed renewed US-Iran strikes.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, told Barron’s that a more durable improvement in sentiment would probably require energy prices to move back towards early-summer levels and tensions in the Middle East to cool.
2. Treasury yields finally get some relief
The recent global bond selloff lost some momentum on Thursday, with the 10-year US Treasury yield slipping to about 4.77%.
That matters for equities because rising yields have been particularly painful for expensive technology shares.
The easing offers some relief, although borrowing costs remain elevated and markets are still weighing another possible Federal Reserve rate increase this month.
3. Broadcom shows how high the AI bar has become
Broadcom shares fell more than 5% before the bell despite another strong quarter. Revenue reached $29.6 billion, up 86% from a year earlier, while adjusted earnings came in at $3.32 a share.
The chipmaker guided for fourth-quarter revenue of about $34.8 billion.
JPMorgan analysts remained positive on Broadcom’s position across technology infrastructure, while Morgan Stanley called the results impressive but flagged questions around its future share of the tensor-processing-unit market.
The reaction suggests strong AI growth alone is no longer enough when expectations are already extreme.
4. Snowflake delivers the kind of beat investors wanted
Snowflake provided the opposite earnings reaction, jumping about 24% in premarket trading after second-quarter revenue rose 35% to $1.55 billion.
Product revenue climbed 37% to $1.49 billion, and the company raised its fiscal 2027 product revenue forecast to $6.07 billion.
The results strengthened the case that Snowflake is becoming a direct beneficiary of enterprise AI spending rather than merely a software company exposed to the trend.
5. Friday’s jobs report could reset the Fed trade
Attention now turns to the August employment report, due Friday at 8:30 am ET.
Private employers added just 38,000 jobs in August, according to ADP, the weakest pace since January.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect the official report to show 53,000 jobs added and unemployment holding at 4.1%.
A surprisingly strong number could revive pressure on Treasury yields and reinforce expectations for tighter Fed policy.
A weak report could do the opposite, but may also raise fresh questions about the health of the US economy.
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