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Futures up: Dow 0.32%, S&P 500 0.64%, Nasdaq 1.05%

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Nucor ( NUE ) falls after downbeat quarterly forecast

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Intel ( INTC ) jumps as Nvidia ( NVDA ) takes $5 bln stake in co

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Weekly jobless claims below estimates

(Updates before markets open)

By Purvi Agarwal and Sukriti Gupta

Sept 18 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes were set for a higher open on

Thursday, a day after the U.S. central bank delivered a

quarter-point interest rate cut, while chipmaker Intel ( INTC ) climbed

after Nvidia ( NVDA ) decided to build a stake in the company.

Intel ( INTC ) jumped 30% in premarket trading after

Nvidia ( NVDA ) said it will invest $5 billion in Intel ( INTC ),

throwing its heft behind the struggling U.S. chip foundry, but

stopped short of giving it a crucial manufacturing deal.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) was up 2.7%, bouncing back from Wednesday's

declines when a report said Chinese tech firms might stop buying

its chips.

Intel ( INTC ) peer Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) slipped 4.6%.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that

the softening jobs market was a priority for the central bank

after it delivered the highly expected cut, indicating more

reductions could follow at its October and December meetings.

Investors are pricing in 42.6 basis points in cuts by

end-2025, implying nearly two quarter-point cuts, data compiled

by LSEG showed.

Futures tied to the small-cap Russell 2000 index

gained 0.9%, as these companies are likely to perform better in

a low interest-rate environment.

At 8:52 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 150 points, or

0.32%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 42.5 points, or 0.64% and

Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 255.25 points, or 1.05%.

A weekly reading of jobless claims on Thursday came in

at 213,000, below estimates of 240,000, as per economists polled

by Reuters.

"With the Fed acknowledging that labor supply and demand

have gone down and the worst of potential disruption from the

tariffs is behind us, all that kind of comes together (to) where

less restrictive policy is warranted," said Keith Buchanan,

senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.

"But (it is) not necessary an emergency dramatic

reduction is in the cards as well. So we (can) really see the

next couple of meetings go the same way as this one did."

However, Powell tempered aggressive easing expectations

of market participants, saying the cut was a risk-management

move and the Fed did not need to move quickly on rates, leading

the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to close lower on Wednesday.

Still, the cut is expected to add to Wall Street's

recent rally, boosted by monetary policy easing hopes and a

revival of AI-linked stock.

The three indexes have gained so far in September - a month

deemed bad for U.S. equities historically - where the S&P 500

has shed 1.4% on average since 2000, data compiled by LSEG

showed.

Among stocks, CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) gained 5.8% after at

least two brokerages raised their price target on the stock.

Nucor ( NUE ) slipped 3.9% after the steel company said it

expected third-quarter profit to decrease across all its three

operating segments.

Nike ( NKE ) was 1.6% higher after RBC upgraded the

sportswear retailer to "outperform" from "sector perform".

Radian Group ( RDN ) rose 6.7% after the mortgage insurer

said it will buy UK-based Lloyd's specialty insurer Inigo for

$1.7 billion.