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Futures up: Dow 0.16%, S&P 500 0.09%, Nasdaq 0.08%

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US weekly jobless claims fall amid low layoffs

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Snowflake surges on AI-driven revenue forecast

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Dollar General ( DG ) up after lifting annual targets on strong

demand

(Updates to before markets open)

By Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy

Aug 28 (Reuters) - The tech-heavy Nasdaq was on track to

open flat on Thursday, constrained by weakness in Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares,

as uncertainty around the Sino-U.S. trade war forced the AI chip

giant to leave out potential China sales from its quarterly

forecast.

The exclusion came despite the company having secured

certain licenses earlier this month to sell its H20 chips to

major market China, after reaching a revenue-sharing deal with

the U.S. government.

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) shares slipped 0.3% in premarket trading,

as some analysts also raised concerns about whether the

company's data center results hinted at tighter spending by

cloud providers.

Still, its strong quarterly revenue forecasts, $60 billion

share buyback plan and CEO Jensen Huang's upbeat comments

placated investor concerns around artificial intelligence

demand.

"These results are good for a normal company in normal

times, but Nvidia ( NVDA ) is neither. The lack of China revenue and

uncertainty around future shipments is a concern. The longer

this takes, the more entrenched domestic (China) alternatives

become," said Paul Meeks, managing director at Freedom Capital

Markets.

The enthusiasm around AI earnings prospects was the driving

force behind Wall Street's bull-market run that started nearly

three years ago. The rally has survived multiple hiccups this

year, including the unveiling of cheaper Chinese AI models and

the U.S. tariff-induced selloff in April.

Semiconductor peers Super Micro Computer ( SMCI ) and

Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) struggled for direction, as did

major customers of Nvidia ( NVDA ) including Meta and Microsoft ( MSFT )

.

Data analytics company Snowflake gained 14.4% after

raising its forecast for fiscal 2026 product revenue, citing AI

demand.

At 08:43 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 71 points, or

0.16%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 6 points, or 0.09%, and

Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 17.75 points, or 0.08%.

The other dominant theme that has lifted the benchmark S&P

500 to record highs has been expectations that the

Federal Reserve could lower interest rates for the first time

this year in September.

Futures tracking the rate-sensitive Russell 2000 small-caps

index gained 0.5% before the bell, while S&P 500

futures were just shy of a record high.

Traders are pricing in an 84.2% chance of a September

rate-cut, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Data on Thursday showed jobless claims stood at 229,000 last

week, compared with expectations of 230,000. A separate report

showed second-quarter gross domestic product increased 3.3%

according to a second estimate, more than the 3% previously

estimated.

All eyes will be the Personal Consumption Expenditures index

expected on Friday and any signs of inflation increasing could

temper expectations for a September rate cut.

Coming later in the day are remarks from Fed Governor

Christopher Waller, who is perceived as dovish and among the

candidates being considered to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell

next year.

Uncertainty regarding central bank independence also

remains, after U.S. President Donald Trump's attempt to fire Fed

Governor Lisa Cook earlier this week.

Among others, cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike ( CRWD )

dropped 3.4% after forecasting weak third-quarter revenue.

Discount store operator Dollar General ( DG ) gained 4.7%

after raising annual forecasts, while packaging food company

Hormel Foods ( HRL ) lost 10.4% after its quarterly profit

forecast missed expectations.