Tech Stocks May Help Lead Extended Upward Move On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Wednesday, with stocks poised to add to the strong gains posted in the previous session.

The markets may continue to benefit from strength in the tech sector amid optimism ahead of the release of earnings news from AI chipmaker and market leader Nvidia (NVDA).

Nvidia, which is due to release its fourth quarter financial results after the close of today’s trading, is climbing by 0.8 percent in pre-market trading.

Software giants Salesforce (CRM) and Snowflake (SNOW) are also among the companies due to report their quarterly results later in the day.

Oracle (ORCL) may also help lead the tech sector higher, with the software giant jumping by 2.4 percent in pre-market trading after Oppenheimer upgraded its rating on the company’s stock to Outperform from Perform.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data may keep some traders on the sidelines.

Following the sell-off seen during Monday’s session, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Tuesday. The major averages all moved notably higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way.

The major averages ended the day not far off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq jumped 236.41 points or 1.0 percent to 22,863.68, the Dow advanced 370.44 points or 0.8 percent to 49,174.50 and the S&P 500 climbed 52.32 points or 0.8 percent to 6,890.07.

The strength on Wall Street may partly have reflected bargain hunting, as some traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the steep drop seen yesterday.

The Dow tumbled to its lowest closing level in a month on Monday amid renewed uncertainty about President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Semiconductor stocks helped lead the move back to the upside, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping by 1.5 percent to a new record closing high.

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) turned in one of the sector’s best performance, surging by 8.8 percent.

The rally by AMD came after the company announced a 6-gigawatt agreement to power Meta’s (META) next generation of AI infrastructure across multiple generations of AMD Instinct GPUs.

Significant strength was also visible among networking stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.

Oil service, gold, airline and software stocks also turned in strong performances, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Conference Board showed an improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of February.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 91.2 in February from an upwardly revised 89.0 in January. Economists had expected the index to jump to 88.0 from the 84.5 originally reported for the previous month.

“Confidence ticked up in February after falling in January, as consumers’ pessimistic expectations for the future eased somewhat,” said Dana M Peterson, Chief Economist, The Conference Board.

“Four of five components of the Index firmed,” she added. “Nonetheless, the measure remained well below the four-year peak achieved in November 2024 (112.8).”

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are climbing $0.56 to $66.19 a barrel after slumping $0.68 to $65.63 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $5,206.50, up $30.20 compared to the previous session’s close of $45,176.30. On Tuesday, gold slid $49.30.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 156.60 yen compared to the 155.88 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1784 compared to yesterday’s $1.1771.

Asia

Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher on Wednesday, with Japanese and South Korean shares rallying to record highs on strength in technology stocks.

Investors also reacted to U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments in his annual address before a joint session of Congress that most of the U.S. trading partners “want to keep the deal that they already made” with his administration and that tariffs will replace income tax as time goes by.

The dollar was broadly lower in Asian trading, helping gold prices surge toward $5,200 an ounce. Oil edged higher to hover near seven-month highs on concerns over a potential military conflict between the United States and Iran.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.7 percent to 4,147.23 as Shanghai eased homebuying rules in the latest attempt by authorities to contain the nation’s prolonged property slump. Hong Kong’ Hang Seng Index rose 0.7 percent to 26,765.72.

Japanese markets hit a new record high, longer-term bonds continued to climb, and the yen gyrated against the dollar after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government nominated two new dovish-leaning academics to the Bank of Japan’s nine-member board, prompting traders to pare expectations of a near-term rate hike.

The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 2.2 percent to 58,583.12, led by strong chip and AI names. The broader Topix Index closed 0.7 percent higher at 3,843.16.

Nippon Steel shares plunged 5.5 percent after the company raised ¥600 billion ($3.9 billion) from an upsize sale of convertible bonds.

Seoul stocks surged to a new record high amid easing concerns about the disruptive effects of artificial intelligence and ahead of key earnings from Nvidia due later in the day. The Kospi surged 1.9 percent to 6,083.86, extending gains for a fifth consecutive session.

Tech and auto stocks led the rally after AI startup Anthropic PBC emphasized partnerships with companies, adding its Claude chatbot technology will integrate with, rather than displace, existing businesses.

Hyundai Motor spiked 9.2 percent on news of a possible initial public offering of its U.S. affiliate Boston Dynamics, known for its humanoid robot Atlas. Its affiliate Kia Corp. skyrocketed 12.7 percent.

Australian shares hit a record high, even as stronger-than-expected inflation data stoked speculation of more rate hikes.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 1.2 percent higher at 9,128.30, after having touched a record high of 9,130.30 points earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index gained 1.2 percent to close at 9,359.

Woolworths shares soared 13 percent to a 17-month high after the grocer reported a strong half-year profit and raised its full-year guidance.

WiseTech Global jumped over 11 percent after the software logistics firm announced a sweeping AI overhaul, with plans to lay off about 2,000 people over the next two years.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 Index finished marginally lower at 13,525.58 after a choppy session.

Europe

European stocks have moved mostly higher on Wednesday after Anthropic announced new partnerships, helping ease artificial intelligence disruption concerns.

The AI startup launched new updates to Claude Cowork that allow companies to integrate the productivity tool into a host of enterprise apps.

While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 1.0 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent.

U.K. pharmaceutical company GSK was little changed after it agreed to buy 35Pharma Inc., a biotech with an early-stage high blood pressure drug.

Lender HSBC Holdings has moved sharply higher after reporting better-than-estimated earnings for 2025.

Wind turbine manufacturer Nordex has also surged after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

Adecco Group shares have also moved to the upside. The Swiss staffing firm said it was seeing “positive momentum” in hiring volumes at the start of the year.

Meanwhile, Diageo has plummeted after the distiller lowered its annual sales forecast for the second time this fiscal year.

German healthcare group Fresenius has also tumbled after its outlook for 2026 fell short of market expectations.

U.S. Economic News

Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin is scheduled to speak and participate in a panel Q&A before the Northern Virginia Chamber Annual State of the Region at 9:35 am ET.

At 10:30 am ET, the Energy Information Administration is due to release its report on crude oil inventories in the week ended February 20th.

Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Schmid is scheduled to speak on monetary policy and the economic outlook in a fireside chat and moderated Q&A before the Economic Club of Colorado at 11 am ET.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $70 billion worth of five-year notes.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President Alberto Musalem is scheduled to participate in a moderated discussion on “The Role of the Federal Reserve in the St. Louis Region” before the Missouri Athletic Club Speaker Series at 1:20 pm ET.