US stock futures were rising Wednesday as Wall Street digested dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and shrugged off the latest flare-up in trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Beijing's decision not to buy soybeans from American farmers purposeful and "an economically hostile act." The S&P 500 closed lower Tuesday following Trump's statements.
These stocks were poised to make moves Wednesday:
ASML Holding, the Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker, reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations but revenue that missed. Guidance, however, was upbeat. ASML previously had said that tariff uncertainty prevented it from guaranteeing growth in 2026, but on Wednesday the company reiterated its 2025 growth expectations and said it doesn't expect 2026 sales to be below 2025 levels. The stock rose 4.1%.
Intel rose 2.2%, paring some losses following a 4.3% drop in the previous session. Earlier this week, analysts at Bank of America downgraded shares to Underperform, saying shares have gone "too far, too fast" and that fundamentals remain challenged. Coming into Wednesday, the stock has risen 78% this year, boosted by the U.S. government and Nvidia both taking stakes in the chip maker.
Astera Labs bounced back 3.8% in premarket trading after shares tumbled 19% Tuesday following a deal between other artificial-intelligence players Oracle and Advanced Micro Devices. The companies said they'll partner to launch an AI "supercluster," using networking solutions that Astera investors fear could hurt sales of its connectivity chips.
AMD shares were up another 2.5% after modest gains in the previous session, while Oracle rose 1.9% following a decline of 2.9% Tuesday.
Sunrun rose 5.6%. Analysts at BMO Capital upgraded the stock to Market Perform from Underperform and hiked their price target to $19 from $10. The analysts see the solar company now in a better cash position to be able to boost shareholder returns via share buybacks or dividend in 2026.
Crop traders Archer Daniels Midland and Bunge Global rose 3% and 3.1%, respectively, after Trump said his administration was considering terminating some business with China connected with cooking oil and "other elements of trade."
LVMH soared 13% after the French luxury conglomerate reported growth for the first time this year in the third quarter. Sales rose by 1% year over year to EUR19.1 billion euros ($22.1 billion), beating FactSet expectations of EUR18.2 billion. Notably, sales in both of LVMH's top markets -- the U.S. and Asia excluding Japan -- increased, up 3% and 2%, respectively.
Wells Fargo was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 on Tuesday and top gainer from among the big U.S. banks that issued third-quarter earnings reports, rising 7.2%. ( JPMorgan Chase fell 1.9%, Goldman Sachs declined 2%, and Citigroup rose 3.9%). Shares of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo closed at $84.56, just below their all-time high of $85.16, after the bank reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised its target for return on tangible common equity to between 17% and 18%. The stock rose another 0.5% in premarket trading.
Wall Street will get more bank earnings reports to examine Wednesday when Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and PNC Financial Services post their quarterly reports.
Bank of America gained 0.7% ahead of third-quarter earnings from the Charlotte-based bank. Wall Street expects Bank of America to post earnings of 95 cents a share on revenue of $27.5 billion. vs. $25.3 billion.
Morgan Stanley rose 1.5% ahead of its third-quarter earnings report. Analysts expect Morgan Stanley to report profit of $2.08 a share on revenue of $16.69 billion.
Earnings reports are also expected Wednesday from Abbott Laboratories, United Airlines, Progressive, Kinder Morgan, and J.B. Hunt Transport Services.
Walmart declined 0.3% in the premarket session after closing up 5% on Tuesday at a record high of $107.21. The world's largest retailer announced it was partnering with OpenAI to allow customers to buy its products through ChatGPT using Instant Checkout. Entering Wednesday, Walmart has risen nearly 19% this year, according to Dow Jones Market Data.