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Dell, Super Micro providing server racks for xAI's

supercomputer

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Futures mixed: S&P 500 up 0.26%, Nasdaq up 0.39%, Dow down

0.05%

(Updated at 0855 a.m. ET)

By Shubham Batra and Ankika Biswas

June 20 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were on

track to open higher on Thursday propelled by a rally in Nvidia ( NVDA ),

while investors assessed the recent economic data and commentary

from Federal Reserve officials to firm up bets on interest rate

cuts this year.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares gained 3.7% before the bell and were

set to extend the semiconductor bellwether's lead as the world's

most valuable company, after Dell and Super Micro Computer ( SMCI )

received server orders for Elon Musk's AI startup.

Dell Technologies ( DELL ) and Super Micro Computer ( SMCI )

rose 4.1% and 5.8%, respectively.

The continued surge to new peaks by AI chip leader Nvidia ( NVDA )

and softer-than-expected U.S. retail sales data pushed the S&P

500 and the Nasdaq to close at record highs on Tuesday.

Chip stocks Marvell Technology ( MRVL ), Advanced Micro

Devices ( AMD ) and Micron Technology ( MU ) also gained between

0.4% and 2.8%.

A Labor Department report showed the number of Americans

filing new claims for unemployment benefits reduced to 238,00

from a revised figure of 243,000 a week ago. Economists polled

by Reuters had forecast 235,000 claims in the latest week.

Separately, the number of building permits and housing

starts fell in May to 1.386 million and 1.277 million,

respectively, compared with a month earlier.

"The weekly jobless claims came pretty much in line, still

indicating a relatively good jobs market, housing was a little

bit light, but that number's been all over the place," said Paul

Nolte, senior wealth advisor and market strategist for Murphy &

Sylvest.

"And generally speaking, housing has been good. I don't

think this changes the housing outlook at all, and that's part

of the reason why you're not getting much of a reaction in the

financial markets."

Yields on the two-year Treasury note, which

closely reflect the interest rate expectations, and those on the

benchmark 10-year note eased slightly after the data

and were last up 2-3 basis points.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Thursday it

will take a year or two to get inflation back to 2% as wage

growth might still be a bit too high, spurring worries of

interest rates staying elevated.

Money markets currently see a 58% chance of a 25-basis point

rate cut by the U.S. central bank in September, according to

LSEG's FedWatch data.

At 8:55 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 19 points,

or 0.05%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 14.25 points, or

0.26%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 79.25 points, or

0.39%.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) was up 5.4%. Britain's

competition regulator said it was investigating whether the

company's planned $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks ( JNPR )

would result in competition concerns.

Trump Media & Technology Group ( DJT ) tumbled 10.5% on

potential equity dilution after the Securities and Exchange

Commission declared effective the company's filing for resale of

certain shares and warrants, giving it about $247 million in

proceeds.