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WALL STREET ON PACE FOR HIGHER OPEN AS EARNINGS GATHER STEAM

U.S. stocks are all set for a higher opening on Wednesday as the quarterly earnings season starts to gather pace, with chip stocks up modestly and top banks including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America rising after earnings.

Morgan Stanley MS.N and Bank of America BAC.N shares are up over 3% each after beating third quarter earnings estimates. Bank of America also raised the lower end of its interest income forecast.

Chip stocks including Nvidia NVDA.O are gaining modestly after Dutch firm ASML ASML.AS reiterated that it expects to benefit from booming AI investment. The iShares semiconductor ETF SOXX.O is up 2.7% in premarket trading.

Separately, HSBC upgraded its rating on Nvidia to "buy" from "hold".

Market sentiment also got a boost from interest rate cut expectations from the Federal Reserve, with traders seeing a near 98% chance for a cut later this month.

At least four Fed officials are set to make public remarks throughout the day on Wednesday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell in Tuesday's remarks said that policymakers will take a "meeting-by-meeting" approach to rate cuts.

The dollar index =USD is down slightly and bitcoin BTC= is down more than 1%, while crude oil prices are higher and gold continued its ascent to smash past the $4,200-per-ounce mark for the first time.

Economic data is still scare as the U.S. government remained in a shutdown, though a survey of October factory activity in New York State came in much higher than market expectations.

Also in stocks, Dollar Tree DLTR.O is the top gainer among S&P 500 .SPX stocks after the discount store operator forecast fiscal 2026 profit above estimates and upheld its annual targets.

Here's a snapshot of the markets at 8:55 a.m. ET

(Shashwat Chauhan)

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EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS

RECORD DIVIDENDS IN PARIS CLICK HERE

ROOM FOR Q3 BEATS CLICK HERE

HSBC SAY KEEP BUYING U.S. STOCKS, MAIN WORRY IS THINGS TOO GOOD CLICK HERE

WHAT GOES DOWN MUST GO UP CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: LUXURY IS BACK CLICK HERE

MORNING BID: FED BACK ON CENTRE STAGE, FOR NOW CLICK HERE

($1 = 0.8601 euros)