Futures muted, TSMC's bullish AI-driven outlook - what's moving markets
Investing.com -- U.S. futures edged slightly into the green on Thursday, but remained muted as hopes for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts early this year continued to recede. Elsewhere, Google boss Sundar Pichai reportedly warns employees of more impending job cuts at the tech behemoth, while chipmaker TSMC says demand for artificial intelligence will fuel a year of «healthy growth.»
1. Futures inch marginally higher
U.S. stock futures hovered mostly above the flatline on Thursday, pointing to a quiet start for equities after they slipped in the previous session.
By 05:00 ET (10:00 GMT), the Dow futures contract was mostly unchanged, S&P 500 futures had added 5 points or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures ticked up by 59 points or 0.4%.
The main indices on Wall Street fell on Wednesday, dragged lower by economic data which cooled bets that the Federal Reserve will soon begin to bring interest rates down from more than two-decade highs. Stronger-than-anticipated December retail sales figures suggested that American consumer health remains resilient despite recently elevated inflation and borrowing costs — a prospect that could persuade Fed officials not to rush into imminent cuts.
Rate-sensitive momentum stocks retreated, weighing on the Nasdaq Composite in particular. The tech-heavy index shed 0.6%, while the benchmark S&P 500 dropped by 0.6% and 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3%.
2. Housing starts, Philly Fed data ahead
Fed policymakers and traders will have the chance to parse through further economic data on Thursday, as they search for more clues about the trajectory of price growth and broader activity.
Housing starts, a measure of new residential construction, are expected have increased by 1.426
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