Stock futures rose on Thursday after the House passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling late Wednesday evening.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.24%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) hovered near the flat line, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gained 0.16%.
A looming U.S. debt default, which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned could come as soon as Monday, had begun to weigh on markets over the last week. But with the House passing the bill in a resounding 314-117 vote, investors will now await action in the Senate.
“The deadline to raise the debt ceiling is rapidly approaching, and the likelihood of triggering a negative market reaction with severe economic consequences will only increase as we approach the precipice,” Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten said in a statement after the House vote.
“We call on the Senate to eliminate the threat of a default by passing this bipartisan bill as soon as possible,” he added.
The artificial intelligence hype train that has been driving a rally in the Nasdaq since Nvida’s (NVDA) blowout earnings report last week hit a speed bump after the close on Wednesday. C3.ai (AI) tumbled more than 20% in pre-market trading on Thursday after the company reported weaker-than-expected full-year revenue guidance. The AI software developer expects revenue in a range of $295-$320 million. Wall Street had hoped for $321 million, per S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Shares of Salesforce (CRM) and CrowdStrike (CRWD) also stumbled in pre-market trading. Salesforce fell more than 6% as investors harped on capital expenditure growth of 36% in the quarter. CrowdStrike stock dropped as its full-year profit forecast came in on the low end of analyst expectations.
Meanwhile retail earnings continued to provide a mixed picture on consumer spending. After the bell on Wednesday, Nordstrom (JWN) topped analyst expectations as shares rose nearly 4% into Thursday’s open. But on Thursday morning, Macy’s (M) cast a different tone. The retailer’s stock slumped more than 7% after lowering its full-year sales and earnings-per-share guidance.
“We planned the year assuming that the economic health of the consumer would be challenged, but starting in late March, demand trends weakened further in our discretionary categories,”Macy’s chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette said in the company’s earnings release.
On the economic front, jobless claims are expected on Thursday morning. Economists anticipate 235,000 claims were filed in the week ending May 27 compared to 229,000 claims the week prior.
Josh is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.
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