In the world of finance, Thursday witnessed a certain level of subduedness in U.S. stock index futures. This was largely influenced by Nvidia's revenue forecast, which failed to meet the expectations of investors. Additionally, the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine added to the cautious sentiment in the market.
Navigating the Turbulent Waters of the Stock Market
Nvidia's Impact on the Market
Nvidia not only beat quarterly profit expectations but also projected its slowest revenue growth in seven quarters. Its adjusted gross margins shrank, causing its shares to decline by 1.7% in premarket trading. This performance by Nvidia, which has been a major driver of the U.S. market rally since mid-2023, raised concerns among investors. As Dan Coatsworth from AJ Bell pointed out, "At face value, Nvidia has once again generated the kind of growth that most companies will never achieve in their lifespan." However, what troubled investors this time was the quarter-on-quarter decline in gross margins and the weaker-than-expected forward guidance for revenue.The sentiment spread to other chip stocks as well. Broadcom dropped 0.4%, Qualcomm lost 0.9%, and Intel was off 0.5%. This shows how closely related these stocks are and how one company's performance can affect the entire sector.Growth Stocks and Their Performance
Growth stocks showed a mixed trend. Meta Platforms was up 0.4%, Apple gained 0.3%, while Tesla was off 0.3%. This indicates that different growth stocks are responding differently to the market conditions. Some are able to maintain their upward momentum, while others are facing challenges.Other Market Indicators and Events
At 6:57 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 84 points, or 0.19%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 3.75 points, or 0.06%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 19.5 points, or 0.09%. These figures give an indication of the overall movement in the market at that time.Wall Street indexes have retreated from their record highs. The post-election euphoria gave way to caution after President-elect Donald Trump named his cabinet picks. Markets are now weighing the potential inflationary impact of his policies.Investors are also closely monitoring the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. After Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in retaliation against Ukraine's strike using American and British missiles earlier this week, the situation remains tense.On the data front, a weekly report on jobless claims is due at 8.30 a.m. ET. Additionally, comments from Federal Reserve officials Beth Hammack, Austan Goolsbee, and Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr are on tap.Meanwhile, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said that the United States is more vulnerable to inflationary shocks than in the past, according to a media report.Money market participants are pricing in a higher chance of the Fed lowering interest rates by 25 basis points at its December meeting - about 59.1%, according to the CME Group's FedWatch.Deere shares gained marginally despite forecasting 2025 profit below Street expectations. The demand for farm equipment slumped, but the company still managed to show some growth.Alphabet dropped 0.4% after the Justice Department argued to a judge that Google must sell its Chrome browser and take other measures to end its monopoly on online search. This shows the regulatory challenges that companies like Alphabet face in today's market.Crypto stocks such as MARA Holdings jumped 10.9%, MicroStrategy rose 11.3%, and Coinbase gained 2.9% as bitcoin prices soared to nearly $100,000 for the first time. This shows the impact of the cryptocurrency market on the overall stock market.Snowflake raised its annual product revenue forecast and teamed up with AI firm Anthropic to build up its cloud services. This led to a 21.5% increase in the data analytics provider's shares.Palo Alto Networks lost 3.8% after announcing a two-for-one forward stock split. Despite topping quarterly revenue and profit expectations, the stock still faced a decline.(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Maju Samuel)