US equity index futures turned lower on Thursday amid renewed volatility in speculative chip names and economic data that reinforced expectations for a hawkish Federal Reserve. S&P 500 futures fell 0.5%, Nasdaq 100 contracts dropped 1.5%, while Dow futures were little changed.
Chipmakers slumped sharply, mirroring declines in their Asian peers on growing skepticism that AI hyperscalers will sustain current levels of capital expenditure in the coming quarters. Speculative interest in the sector was further hit by South Korea’s move to ban leveraged ETFs and by signals from ASML pointing to more efficient next-generation machines that could weigh on future equipment demand.
Micron tumbled 5%, while AMD, SanDisk, and Broadcom each lost around 4%.
By contrast, UnitedHealth surged 7% after beating earnings expectations for the June quarter and raising its full-year guidance.
On the macro front, new retail sales data pointed to resilient US consumer spending once weaker fuel receipts were stripped out. Meanwhile, another low reading on initial jobless claims underscored the ongoing strength of the labor market. Together, the data reinforced market expectations for at least one additional Fed rate hike this year, as renewed clashes between Iran and the US stoked concerns over energy prices and inflation.
