(Reuters) -Wall Street futures climbed on Thursday after a U.S. trade court blocked most of President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs, while shares of AI chipmaker Nvidia gained following stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue.
The Court of International Trade ruled that the U.S. Constitution grants Congress exclusive authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations — a power not superseded by the president’s emergency powers to protect the U.S. economy.
“This ruling is a key development, and it will weaken Trump’s bargaining power in his ongoing negotiations with the U.S.’ key trading partners,” National Bank of Kuwait analysts said in a note.
“If the ruling is sustained, it will be a major positive development for the U.S. and the global economy.”
The court invalidated with immediate effect all of Trump’s orders on tariffs since January that were rooted in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
However, the decision can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., and potentially to the U.S. Supreme Court.
At 04:07 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 554 points, or 1.31%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 102.25 points, or 1.73% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 460 points, or 2.15%.
Shares of Nvidia were up 5.4% in premarket trading after the world’s most valuable semiconductor firm beat estimates for first-quarter sales, driven by customers stockpiling AI chips ahead of U.S. export restrictions to China.
The company, however, warned that the new curbs are expected to cut $8 billion from current-quarter sales, causing its second-quarter forecast to miss expectations.
Other chipmakers rose in the wake of Nvidia’s positive earnings, with Advanced Micro Devices gaining 3.3%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF advanced 3.4%.
Apple led gains among megacap and growth stocks with a 3.6% jump. Meta Platforms and Alphabet each climbed more than 2%.
Dow component Salesforce gained 2.3% after the enterprise software provider raised its annual revenue and adjusted profit forecasts.
Futures linked to the economically sensitive Russell 2000 small-cap index also surged 2.3%.
May has been a solid month for equities, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on pace for their best monthly performances since November 2023.
The S&P 500 is currently about 4% below an all-time high touched on February 19, having rebounded from a nearly 19% decline earlier in April, supported by easing trade tensions, strong earnings, and subdued inflation data that boosted risk appetite.
Minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting, released on Wednesday, indicated that policymakers acknowledged they could face “difficult tradeoffs” in coming months in the form of rising inflation alongside rising unemployment.
Later in the day, the second estimate for first-quarter GDP will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and Personal Consumption Expenditure data is slated for Friday.
At least five Fed policymakers including Fed Board Governor Adriana Kugler are scheduled to make public remarks through the day.
Among the early movers, HP Inc shed 8.5% after the PC maker cut its annual profit forecast.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Benglauru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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