WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After ending the previous session moderately lower,
stocks are likely to show a strong move back to the upside in early trading on
Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for
the markets.

Technology stocks are likely to lead the advance following upbeat quarterly
results from Nvidia (NVDA), with the Nasdaq 100 futures surging by 1.2 percent.

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) are soaring by 7.0 percent in pre-market trading after
the AI darling reported better than expected fiscal first quarter results and
provided upbeat guidance.

Nvidia also announced a ten-for-one stock split of its common stock and
increased its quarterly cash dividend by 150 percent to $0.10 per share.

However, concerns about the outlook for interest rates may continue to hang over
the broader markets following yesterday's slightly hawkish Fed minutes.

With the minutes signaling rates are likely to remain higher for longer than
previously expected, the chances rates will be lower by September have fallen to
68.6 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Potentially adding to the rate concerns, the Labor Department released a report
this morning showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by
more than expected in the week ended May 18th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slid to 215,000, a decrease of
8,000 from the previous week's revised level of 223,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 220,000 from the 222,000
originally reported for the previous week.

Not long after the start of trading, the Commerce Department is due to release
its report on new home sales in the month of April. Economists expect new home
sales to pull back by 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 680,000 in April after
soaring by 8.8 percent to a rate of 693,000 in March.

Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading session on
Wednesday before coming under pressure following the release of the minutes of
the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but ended
the day in the red after ending Tuesday's choppy trading session modestly
higher.

The Dow slid 201.95 points or 0.5 percent to 39,671.04, the S&P 500 fell 14.40
points or 0.3 percent to 5,307.01 and the Nasdaq dipped 31.08 points or 0.2
percent at 16,801.54.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a
mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by
1.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 1.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day.
While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is just above the unchanged line, the German DAX
Index is up by 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.71 to $78.28 a barrel
after tumbling $1.09 to $77.57 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after plunging
$33 to $2,392.90 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slumping
$22.70 to $2,370.20 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 156.70 yen versus the
156.80 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the
euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0847 compared to yesterday's $1.0823.



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