Stock market today: US futures waver after key data as Micron slides

US stock futures wobbled on Thursday after chipmaker Micron’s (MU) outlook put a dent in tech-rally hopes, as investors assessed fresh economic data ahead of an inflation reading key to Federal Reserve policy.

S&P 500 futures (ES=F) were little changed, paring earlier still-slight losses after rising Wednesday to close not far short of a new all-time high. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) slipped 0.2%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) were also flat.

Stocks are struggling in the wake of Micron’s sales forecast for the current quarter, which met expectations but failed to satisfy investors looking for stellar outperformance from AI-linked companies.

Bullishness around AI has helped lift the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) to a 15% gain this year. But concerns are growing that the rally could be at risk if the handful of tech companies driving most of those gains stop topping already lofty expectations.

Memory maker Micron’s shares slid almost 6% in pre-market trading. Nvidia (NVDA) was down 1.6%, reviving worries of a return to the sell-off that rattled markets last week, as other AI chip stocks came under pressure.

Investors were weighing a new batch of economic data ahead of the PCE inflation print on Friday that will influence the Fed’s thinking on timing of interest-rate cuts.

A reading on initial weekly jobless claims came in at 233,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week, according to Department of Labor data. The reading came in below a consensus expectation of 235,000. That eased fears of another rise in unemployment claims that would suggest softening in the labor market.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.4% in the first quarter of 2024, according to the third estimate by the Bureau of Economic Development released on Thursday morning. The print was slightly higher than the prior estimate of 1.3%.

Inflation could also loom large in the first debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on Thursday night.

On the corporate front, Levi Strauss (LEVI) shares sank over 15% in the wake of a second-quarter revenue miss for the jeans seller. Investors will look to Nike’s (NKE) quarterly results after the bell for more clues to consumer resilience.