Stock futures were higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average set to retake 50,000 during the trading day, after strong earnings from Cisco Systems and following a key meeting between U.S. and China.
Futures for the 30-stock index sparked 338 points, or 0.7%, to 50,130
Futures for the S&P 500 captured 16.75 points, or 0.2%, to 7,486.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ jumped 45.75 points, or 0.1%. to 29,525.
Shares of Cisco surged 15% in premarket trading after the software giant posted third-quarter results and guidance that beat Wall Street’s expectations and announced it would be cutting almost 4,000 jobs.
Cisco’s gain gave Dow futures a boost, putting it on track to reclaim the 50,000 level it reached earlier this year.
Dow futures also got a lift from Boeing, which rose more than 1% as expectations grew that the summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would yield some deals for U.S. companies.
While fears of higher energy prices weighed on other sectors of the market, technology stocks — particularly semiconductor names like Nvidia and Micron Technology — drove the market rally on Wednesday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 capsized 1% Thursday, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained a mere 60 points.
Oil prices sank 17 cents to $100.85 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices handed back $6.80 to $4,699.90 U.S an ounce.
