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June 18 (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rebounded on Thursday after the previous session’s selloff as optimism about a Middle East peace deal lifted shares of technology firms including Intel, tempering worries about a hawkish Federal Reserve under new Chair Warsh.
Intel’s shares rose 9.3% in premarket trading after U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple had agreed to work with the company to design and manufacture its chips in the U.S.
Other technology stocks were also higher. Nvidia rose 1%, while Micron and Marvell Technology added 4% each.
All three indexes sank on Wednesday after investors priced in rate hikes from the Fed after Chair Kevin Warsh emphasized the need to tame inflation, while other policymakers projected rising interest rates later this year.
Markets are currently pricing in a 50% chance of a 25-bps rate hike in September, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, higher than 27% priced in on Wednesday.
“The combination of a new chair regime, hawkish projections, and a wide dispersion of views implies a higher bar for near-term action in either direction,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“In our view, this points to an extended period of policy on hold, with meaningful adjustments more likely once the task force process is complete, and the committee has greater clarity on the economic outlook.”
Still, oil prices sliding to a more than three-month low kept alive the hope that inflation could be tamed without hiking interest rates.
The United States and Iran released the text of an interim agreement their presidents have signed to end the war, extending the April ceasefire by another 60 days to allow the two sides to reach a final deal.
At 05:01 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis rose 199 points, or 0.38%, S&P 500 E-minis gained 54 points, or 0.72%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 403.25 points, or 1.36%.
Markets have regained ground from a slump in early June, with a resilient economy, broadening rally beyond tech shares and optimism surrounding a U.S.-Iran deal boosting sentiment.
Economic data on Wednesday showed U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in May, with households purchasing more cars and other vehicles even as they paid higher prices for gasoline.
The Nasdaq and the blue-chip Dow were on track to end the week higher for a second consecutive week before Friday’s Juneteenth holiday.
Among other early movers, Rumble jumped 16.2% after rebranding to RUM Group and closing its acquisition of German AI cloud company Northern Data.
Smith & Wesson soared 16.6% after reporting a fourth-quarter rise in sales.
(Reporting by Twesha Dikshit; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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