On Wednesday, futures for both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq surged, driven by a boost in growth stocks. This surge came as investors cheered the positive earnings report from megacap Tesla and awaited upcoming economic data, hoping for insights into the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest-rate trajectory.
Leading the charge among megacap stocks was Tesla (TSLA.O), which saw a remarkable 9.9% surge in premarket trading following the announcement of its plans to introduce new, more affordable models. Other electric vehicle (EV) stocks followed suit, with Lucid Group (LCID.O), Nikola (NKLA.O), and U.S.-listed shares of Nio witnessing gains ranging from 1.2% to 3.7%.
Additionally, other growth stocks experienced upward movement, including Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), and Nvidia (NVDA.O), with increases ranging from 0.3% to 1.6%.
Meta Platforms (META.O) and Snap (SNAP.N) also saw gains of 1.7% and 2.1%, respectively, after the U.S. Senate passed a bill on Tuesday aimed at potentially banning TikTok in the United States if its parent company, the Chinese firm ByteDance, failed to divest the popular short video app.
Looking ahead, Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) are scheduled to report their quarterly results later in the week. Additionally, other major companies like Boeing (BA.N), General Dynamics (GD.N), and Biogen (BIIB.O) are among those slated to release their quarterly earnings before the opening bell.
U.S. equities appeared to have rebounded from the previous week's downturn, which was influenced by tensions in the Middle East and a reassessment of expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
As the corporate earnings season gains momentum, adjusted blended earnings for the quarter are estimated to grow by 6% year-on-year, according to data from LSEG. Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, noted that the extensive release of company results this week has provided investors with more to focus on than just macroeconomic events, contributing to increased market activity.
Market participants eagerly await the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index reading for March, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, scheduled for Friday, as they seek clues about potential interest rate cuts. Money markets currently anticipate around 41 basis points of cuts this year, down from approximately 150 bps at the start of the year, according to LSEG data.