Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures moved higher after several days of declines, as investors awaited Nvidia's results to gauge the direction of AI demand and focused on a crucial tax-cut proposal's progress through Congress.
At 07:09 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Dow E-minis were up 121 points, or 0.28%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 28 points, or 0.47%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 146.5 points, or 0.69%.
Investors have been on edge since last week as a series of data releases, including Tuesday's weak consumer sentiment print, suggested the world's largest economy might be stalling, even as sticky inflation keeps the Federal Reserve cautious about lowering interest rates further.
Nvidia's (NVDA.O), quarterly results and forecasts, expected after markets close, are likely to set the tone for Wall Street, after low-cost AI models from China's DeepSeek rattled the industry in January and raised questions around Big Tech's heavy investments into the technology.
The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), and the Nasdaq (.IXIC), logged their biggest four-day declines since September on Tuesday, mainly due to weakness in tech stocks, as an analyst report also hinted at overcapacity in AI infrastructure.
Nvidia shares gained 2.1% in premarket trading, while peers Broadcom (AVGO.O), and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), added 1.9% and 1.1%, respectively.
"Investors are very much used to seeing impressive results, therefore the risk factors could reverse optimism from strong results," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
"Add to that the fact that the market environment is not ideal these days, Nvidia has the heavy task of lifting the market mood this week. If it can not, the selloff in stocks could accelerate despite the falling yields."
Megacaps such as Amazon.com (AMZN.O), and Alphabet (GOOGL.O), rose over 0.7% each, while Tesla (TSLA.O), rose 1.5%, a day after the electric-vehicle maker's market value fell below $1 trillion.
On the fiscal front, President Donald Trump's $4.5 trillion tax-cut and border security agenda will be sent to the U.S. Senate after passing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Expectations that Trump's 2017 tax cuts would at least be extended were among top boosts to investor sentiment after his election win.
However, given broader economic uncertainty, futures tracking the domestically-focused Russell 2000 index inched up 0.3%, while yields on Treasury bonds recouped some of Tuesday's declines.
Traders expect the Fed to deliver its first interest rate cut in July, according to data compiled by LSEG. Remarks from policymakers Thomas Barkin and Raphael Bostic, due later in the day, are likely to reiterate the central bank's cautious stance.
In the latest on global trade, Trump ordered a probe into potential new tariffs on copper imports, sending prices of the red metal higher. Phoenix-based copper miner Freeport-McMoran (FCX.N), jumped 4.8%.
The U.S. and Ukraine also agreed on the terms of a draft minerals deal as Trump seeks to rapidly end the war with Russia.
Lowe's (LOW.N), added 3.6% after the retailer reported a surprise rise in fourth-quarter same-store sales.
Intuit (INTU.O), shares rose 8.2% after the TurboTax maker forecast third-quarter revenue above Street estimates.
General Motors (GM.N), rose 4.5% as the automaker said it would increase its quarterly dividend by 25% and undertake a new $6 billion share buyback program.
Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath
