U.S. stock index futures are trading higher ahead of the market open, with notable strength in memory chip stocks.

On July 6th, Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.02%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.22%, and S&P 500 futures increased by 0.45%.

European stock markets opened with mixed performance.

Significantly, U.S. memory chip-related stocks are showing substantial pre-market gains. Western Digital and SanDisk are up over 4%. Other companies advancing include Intel, Seagate Technology PLC, Marvell Technology, ON Semiconductor, and Advanced Micro Devices.

The positive movement follows a significant forecast revision. The Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) has substantially raised its sales forecast for Japanese semiconductor manufacturing equipment for fiscal year 2026.

The association now expects sales to reach 6.55 trillion yen, a 26% increase year-over-year, up from a previous estimate of 5.5 trillion yen.

SEAJ's updated report attributes the revision to a surge in investment for advanced logic chips used in AI servers, combined with a major expansion in production line investment for DRAM, which is centered on High Bandwidth Memory (HBM).

The new global sales forecast for Japanese equipment makers in FY2026 is 65,502 billion yen, an increase of approximately 20% from the 55,004 billion yen forecast made in January 2026, representing an upward revision of 10,498 billion yen. This would mark the first time annual sales surpass the 6 trillion yen threshold and set a new record high for the third consecutive year.

SEAJ also noted that due to persistently strong demand for AI server chips and the commencement of operations at multiple new wafer fabrication plants, it has significantly raised its sales forecast for fiscal year 2027. The new projection is 74,017 billion yen, up from a previous estimate of 56,104 billion yen, representing 13% year-over-year growth. This would potentially mark a fourth consecutive year of record-high sales.