Nasdaq futures jump nearly 2% after Nvidia trounces expectations

(Reuters) - Futures tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped about 2% on Thursday after Nvidia's bumper results and forecast gave a fresh boost to the euphoria around artificial intelligence that has propelled Wall Street to record highs this year.

Nvidia's shares surged 12.9% in premarket trade after the chip designer forecast a roughly threefold surge in first-quarter revenue on strong demand for its AI chips.

The company, which also beat expectations for fourth-quarter revenue, was set to add more than $200 billion in market cap.

At 4:29 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 69 points, or 0.18%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 52 points, or 1.04%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 331.5 points, or 1.89%.

Shares of other companies, seen as beneficiaries of the AI boost, also got a shot in the arm. Nvidia's rival Advanced Micro Devices, server component supplier Super Micro Computer and Arm Holdings jumped between 5.5% and 14.1%.

Big Tech and growth stocks such as Alphabet, Microsoft, Tesla and Meta Platforms rose between 1.0% and 2.4%.

Nvidia's earnings had been a major test for the AI-fueled rally on Wall Street and some analysts had cautioned that disappointing results could spark a steep selloff among technology stocks. Wall Street could notch fresh record highs in the near term if the momentum gathers pace.

"Few things are more certain than death, taxes and Nvidia beating on earnings. The bar was set quite high and incredibly they've once again stepped up and hit a home run," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group.

"(Nvidia's) AI business is simply booming more than even the most optimistic analyst expected."

Meanwhile, investors stuck to bets the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates in June after minutes from the central bank's latest meeting showed a majority of policymakers were concerned about the risks of easing policy too soon.

(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)