US futures edged higher on Thursday, with the three major indexes up around 0.1%, extending gains from the previous session. Traders continued to weigh the outlook for AI stocks and fresh corporate updates, while expectations for a Fed rate cut next month strengthened following the latest Challenger report. According to the report, US companies announced the highest number of job cuts for any October in 22 years, driven by AI adoption and cost-cutting measures. This data boosted the probability of a 25bps rate cut in December to about 68%. In premarket trading, Nvidia rose 1.4% and Tesla added 0.4% ahead of its annual shareholder meeting. Amazon (up 0.2%), Meta (+0.8%), and Alphabet (+0.8%) also advanced, while Microsoft traded near the flatline and Apple slipped 0.3%. Qualcomm declined 1.1% after its intellectual property licensing revenue came in slightly below forecasts.
