The major U.S. Index futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Thursday, with stocks likely to give back ground following the rally seen in the previous session.
The downward momentum on Wall Street comes amid a sharp increase in the price of crude oil and a subsequent rebound in treasury yields.
U.S. crude oil futures have surged by more than 2 percent and jumped back above $100 a barrel as traders await developments on a U.S.-Iran peace deal.
Yields are also moving back to the upside after plummeting on Wednesday, although the yield on the benchmark ten-year note remains well off Tuesday's one-year highs.
A negative reaction to earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA) may also weigh on Wall Street, with the AI leader sliding by 0.7 percent in pre-market trading.
The decrease by shares of Nvidia comes even though the chipmaker reported better than expected first quarter results, as investors worry about the sustainability of its rapid growth. "The chip giant is starting to sound like a broken record, playing the same message over and over again," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. It effectively says AI demand is strong, lots of customers are queuing up for its chips, and there is still much more to go for."
"The market's attention is now focused on how long Nvidia can sustain this momentum," he added. "Even the fastest or strongest athletes run out of steam at some point, and investors are starting to worry that Nvidia cannot keep up its current pace."
Disappointing earnings news from Walmart (WMT) may also generate some negative sentiment, with the retail giant plunging by 2.8 percent in pre-market trading.
Stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, regaining ground after trending lower over the past few sessions. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside on the day.
The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq surged 399.65 points or 1.5 percent to 26,270.36, the Dow shot up 645.47 points or 1.3 percent to 50,009.35 and the S&P 500 jumped 79.36 points or 1.1 percent to 7,432.97.
The rally on Wall Street came a steep drop by treasuries yields, which pulled back sharply along with the price of crude oil.
The yield on the benchmark ten-year note plunged from its highest levels in well over a year as U.S. crude oil futures plummeted by more than 5 percent amid renewed optimism about an end to the U.S.-Iran war.
Crude oil futures tumbled below $100 a barrel after President Donald Trump claimed the U.S. conflict with Iran is in the "final stages."
At the same time, Trump continued to leave open the possibility of renewing military attacks against Iran, telling reporters, "We'll either have a deal or we're going to do some things that are a little bit nasty."
Airline stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day amid the steep drop by crude oil prices, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 8.1 percent.
Substantial strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 4.5 percent spike by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
Housing stocks also showed a significant move to the upside, resulting in a 3.8 percent surge by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.
Gold, banking and computer hardware stocks also saw considerable strength, while oil producer stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of crude oil.
Commodity, Currency Markets
Crude oil futures are surging $2.46 to $100.72 a barrel after plummeting $5.89 to $98.26 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after climbing $24.10 to $4,535.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are falling $20.70 to $4,514.60 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 159.09 yen versus the 158.91 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1608 compared to yesterday's $1.1626.
Asia
Asian stocks rose broadly on Thursday as U.S.-Iran peace talks entered a critical phase and Nvidia announced record quarterly profit and revenue amid explosive demand for its advanced AI chips.
Gold dipped toward $4,500 an ounce in Asian trading, weighed down by a firm dollar and higher Treasury yields.
Brent crude futures rose over 1 percent to trade above $106 a barrel, after having fallen more than 5 percent in the previous session on optimism about an end to the U.S.-Iran war and expectations for a near-term restart of energy flows through the critical Strait of Hormuz.
China's Shanghai Composite Index ended 2.0 percent lower at 4,077.28, reversing early gains. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.0 percent to 25,386.52.
Singamas Container Holdings slumped 13.6 percent and CIMC lost about 10 percent after U.S. prosecutors accused Chinese executives and companies of fixing shipping container prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japanese markets posted strong gains amid renewed enthusiasm for technology stocks. Economic reports proved to be a mixed bag, with Japan clocking a bigger-than-expected trade surplus in April, aided by an outsized increase in exports, while core machinery orders posted the steepest decline since last November in March.
The Nikkei 225 Index surged 3.1 percent to 61,684.14, while the broader Topix Index settled 1.6 percent higher at 3,853.81.
SoftBank Group shares skyrocketed nearly 20 percent after SB Energy, a digital infrastructure firm that it backs, confidentially filed for an initially public offering in the United States.
Seoul stocks moved sharply higher, with the Kospi Index soaring 8.4 percent to 7,815.59, led by technology stocks after strong earnings from Nvidia.
Samsung Electronics shares spiked 8.5 percent after the management and its union leaders reached a tentative bonus pay agreement at the 11th hour, helping avert a strike at the world's largest memory-chip maker.
Producer prices in South Korea climbed 2.5 percent month-on-month in April, the Bank of Korea said today - up from 1.7 percent in March due to higher petroleum and raw materials prices stemming from the ongoing war in Iran.
Australian markets ended on a buoyant note as weak jobs data prompted traders to trim bets on a near-term rate hike. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index surged 1.5 percent to 8,621.70, its highest closing level in a week. The broader All Ordinaries Index closed up 1.4 percent at 8,840.80, led by mining stocks.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index gained 0.9 percent to close at 12,878.07 after ending at a more than seven-week low in the previous session.
Europe
European stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of the trading session on Thursday as investors digest Nvidia's strong earnings and monitor peace talks between the United States and Iran.
As Iran reviews a new U.S. proposal to resolve the Middle East conflict, U.S. President Donald Trump said that negotiations could yield a deal within days or collapse into renewed strikes.
The German DAX Index is down by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.4 percent.
British pub group Mitchells & Butlers has plummeted after reporting slower sales growth and flat underlying profits for the first half.
BT Group shares have also tumbled. The telecommunications company logged lower revenue for fiscal 2026 due to a decline in its international business.
German pharma major Bayer has also moved to the downside. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted priority review to its supplemental New Drug Application for Kerendia.
Meanwhile, Swedish educational group Cedergrenska has moved sharply lower after reporting strong quarterly revenue and margin growth.
Banking and wealth management group Investec has also rallied after reporting sharply higher annual profit for its latest fiscal year.
Swiss pensions and insurance group Swiss Life Holding has also advanced after reporting strong financial results for the first quarter of 2026.
U.S. Economic News
The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first time-claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower in the week ended May 16th.
The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 209,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level of 212,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 213,000 from the 211,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also slipped to 202,500, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 204,000.
New residential construction in the U.S. pulled back by much less than expected in the month of April, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.
The Commerce Department said housing starts slumped by 2.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.465 million in April after soaring by 12 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 1.507 million in March.
Economists had expected housing starts to plunge by 6.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.410 million from the 1.502 million originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report also said building permits spiked by 5.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.442 million in April after plummeting by 11.5 percent to a downwardly revised rate of 1.363 million in March.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to climbed by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.380 million from the 1.1372 million originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday showed regional manufacturing activity unexpectedly weakened in the month of May.
The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity plummeted to a negative 0.4 in May from a positive 26.7 in April, with a negative reading indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to pull back to a positive 15.0.
Meanwhile, the Philly Fed said firms continue to expect overall growth over the next six months, with the diffusion index for future general activity surging to 53.2 in May from 40.8 in April and reaching its highest reading since June 2021
At 11 am ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the details of this month's auctions of two-year, five-year and seven-year notes.
Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin is due to speak before the Urban Land Institute Triangle Capital Markets Lunch Event at 12:20 pm ET.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.