US stock futures edge higher, continuing rebound driven by Nvidia gains

Investing.com -- U.S. stock index futures mostly rose Wednesday, continuing the rebound in the tech sector led by market darling Nvidia.

At 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT), Dow Jones Futures traded largely unchanged, S&P 500 Futures gained 9 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 53 points, or 0.3%. 

Wall Street saw mixed trading Tuesday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.4% and the NASDAQ Composite surging 1.3%, ending three days of declines, buoyed by a bounce in Nvidia shares.

The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average, by contrast, underperformed, sliding nearly 300 points, or 0.8%.

Nvidia rebound buoys Wall Street 

Sentiment has been boosted by the rebound in artificial intelligence darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), which surged nearly 7% on Tuesday, rebounding from three straight days of steep losses, which were sparked by profit-taking and creeping doubts over AI demand. 

Gains in the stock spilled over into its chipmaking peers, and also helped bolster Wall Street indexes against losses in other sectors. . 

However, economically sensitive sectors remain weak in anticipation of PCE price index data later this week.

This s the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, and is likely to factor into the central bank’s plans to begin trimming interest rates.

The U.S. central bank recently cut its outlook for rate cuts this year, to one from three. However, markets widely expect the Fed to announce at least one 25 basis point cut in September, will another cut also expected by the end of the year.  

Fedex surges on upbeat outlook

Also helping the tone was an upbeat outlook from delivery and logistics giant FedEx (NYSE:FDX), which soared 13% in premarket trading. 

FedEx, whose results are considered to be a possible marker of the state of the global economy, said it now expects to deliver full-year revenue growth in the low- to mid-single digit. Analysts had called for an increase of 3%.

It also unveiled plans for a $2.5 billion share buyback in its current financial year.

Elsewhere, Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) jumped almost 40% after it entered a joint venture with Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG), which will see the German automaker invest an initial $1 billion in the electric vehicle maker.

Quarterly results are due from General Mills (NYSE:GIS) and Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) early Wednesday, as well as Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) later in the day.

Oil gains despite jump in US crude stockpiles

Crude prices rose Wednesday, despite a surprise jump in U.S. stockpiles, as traders weighed geopolitical risks and confidence surrounding the summer driving season.

By 06:00 ET, the U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 0.9% higher at $81.58 per barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.9% to $84.94 a barrel.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute, released on Tuesday, showed that U.S. oil inventories grew by around 0.9 million barrels in the week to June 21.

This was something of a surprise given expectations for a draw of 3 million barrels, but is largely being overlooked as investors anticipate inventory drawdowns during the peak third quarter demand season. The official numbers from the Energy Information Administration are due later in the session.