Nasdaq futures soar over 300 points: 5 things to know before Wall Street opens

US stock futures rose on Tuesday as technology shares attempted to recover from Monday’s selloff, with Nvidia earnings and fresh inflation data emerging as the two biggest tests for Wall Street.

S&P 500 futures gained about 0.5% and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed over 300 points or roughly 1% in the latest indications, while Dow futures were also 250 points higher.

Falling Treasury yields helped sentiment as oil prices retreated, easing some of the inflation pressure that rattled growth stocks last week.

Nvidia advanced about 1% before the bell, with Micron, Intel and other semiconductor names also rebounding ahead of the AI chipmaker’s results on Wednesday.

5 things to know before Wall Street opens

1. Nvidia leads a rebound in beaten-down chip stocks

Semiconductors bounced after another difficult session on Monday, when Nvidia fell 2.9% and extended its losing streak to seven trading days. Micron and Sandisk had also suffered sharp declines.

Nvidia reports after Wednesday’s close. Wall Street expects about $92.1 billion in quarterly revenue and adjusted earnings of roughly $2.09 a share.

Freedom Capital Markets strategist Jay Woods told Investopedia that simply matching expectations may not be enough.

Investors increasingly want evidence that spending on AI infrastructure remains durable enough to support Nvidia’s extraordinary growth trajectory.

2. PCE inflation lands on the same day

The July Personal Consumption Expenditures report will be released at 8:30 am ET on Wednesday, only hours before Nvidia reports. The PCE index is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.

That combination could make Wednesday particularly volatile.

A softer inflation reading would reduce pressure for an imminent rate increase and potentially support expensive technology stocks. A hotter number could quickly bring higher yields back into the equity story.

3. Falling yields give growth stocks some relief

The 10-year Treasury yield eased to about 4.67% on Tuesday, while the 30-year dropped towards 5.21%, helped by another fall in crude prices.

Those moves matter after the 30-year yield touched its highest level since 2007 last week.

Treasury has already announced that long-dated liquidity-support buybacks will at least double to $4 billion per operation from September 9.

The intervention has calmed markets temporarily, but concerns over federal borrowing remain a potential ceiling for technology valuations.

4. Iran sanctions deliver less of a shock than feared

Markets have so far taken Washington’s expanded Iran sanctions in stride.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned countries against maintaining certain commercial links with Tehran, but the administration stopped short of immediately penalising major trading partners.

That helped send oil lower, with Brent slipping below $92 and WTI towards $84-$85. Lower crude reduces one of the most immediate threats to the inflation outlook.

5. Warsh’s Jackson Hole debut comes Friday

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will deliver keynote remarks at Jackson Hole at 10 am ET on Friday, his first speech at the symposium since taking over the central bank in May.

His comments will be watched for how the Fed intends to balance inflation, elevated long-term yields and softer parts of the economy.

For Wall Street, Nvidia and PCE come first. Together, they could determine whether Tuesday’s technology rebound becomes the start of a recovery or merely a pause in the recent selloff.