US stock futures were mixed on Friday as investors took some profit after Nvidia’s powerful post-earnings rally and turned their attention to Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s first Jackson Hole keynote.
Dow futures edged about 0.1% higher, S&P 500 futures hovered around flat and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped roughly 0.3%.
Nvidia fell about 1% before the bell after surging 8.7% on Thursday, while Marvell, PayPal and Gap produced much larger moves.
The backdrop remains unusually sensitive to rates: the 10-year Treasury yield held near 4.68%, with markets still assigning roughly a one-in-three chance of a September Fed increase.
5 things to know before Wall Street opens
1. Warsh faces his biggest communication test yet
Warsh speaks at 10 am ET at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, and investors want more than broad comments about inflation.
The market is looking for a clearer sense of what would make the Fed raise rates again.
Swissquote strategist Ipek Ozkardeskaya told MarketWatch that markets increasingly expect Warsh to deliver a more definitive policy message.
His challenge is to reinforce the Fed’s inflation credibility without unnecessarily destabilising a bond market that has already endured weeks of volatility.
2. Nvidia rally cools after Thursday’s surge
Nvidia slipped about 1% pre-market after its blockbuster forecast sent the shares up nearly 9% on Thursday and powered a broader technology rally.
The pullback spread to several chip names, with Micron and Intel falling more than 2%.
That looks more like profit-taking than a rejection of Nvidia’s outlook, but it highlights how heavily AI optimism is now embedded in semiconductor valuations.
3. Marvell shows how high the AI bar has become
Marvell fell roughly 8% despite beating quarterly expectations and lifting its longer-term revenue targets.
The issue was timing. Investors had expected its expanded Google custom-chip relationship to produce a larger contribution sooner, while management indicated the more meaningful impact comes in fiscal 2029 and beyond.
Morgan Stanley analysts see much of the Google opportunity through fiscal 2028 as already reflected in guidance. That explains why another “beat and raise” was not enough to support the shares.
4. PayPal crashes while Gap surges
PayPal sank about 14% after a reported $53 billion takeover pursuit by Stripe and Advent International was abandoned.
The development removes a takeover premium that had helped lift the stock in recent weeks.
Gap moved the other way, jumping about 13%-15% after raising its annual earnings forecast and naming Michael Francis as Old Navy’s next chief executive. Adjusted quarterly earnings beat expectations even as revenue slipped 2%.
5. Consumer sentiment provides the next data check
The final August University of Michigan consumer-sentiment reading is due at 10 am ET, alongside Warsh’s speech, while Chicago PMI arrives at 9:45 am.
Markets expect the Michigan index to remain near a weak preliminary reading of 51.
The figures are unlikely to overshadow Jackson Hole, but another weak consumer reading could complicate the Fed debate by strengthening the case for patience even as inflation remains above target.
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