Aug 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were poised for a strong start on Thursday, buoyed by optimism that major technology companies could avoid U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariffs on chip imports.
Apple's (AAPL.O), shares climbed 2.8% in premarket trading, having risen 5.1% and led gains on Wall Street in the prior session, after Trump said the iPhone maker will invest an additional $100 billion in the U.S., bringing its total commitment to $600 billion over the next four years.
Trump also announced a tariff of about 100% on imports of semiconductors but said it would not apply to companies that are manufacturing in the U.S. or have committed to do so.
Shares of chipmakers Nvidia (NVDA.O), and Broadcom (AVGO.O), rose 1.4% each, while peer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), advanced 2.2%.
At 8:35 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis were up 39.25 points, or 0.62%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 178 points, or 0.76%, and Dow E-minis were up 216 points, or 0.49%.
Meanwhile, Eli Lilly (LLY.N), slipped 7% after reporting data on its late-stage oral weight-loss drug. The drugmaker also raised its full-year profit forecast.
Trump's higher tariffs of 10% to 50% on dozens of trading partners took effect on Thursday.
Expectations were rife that the Federal Reserve could begin a policy easing cycle, spurred by disappointing economic data -particularly the July payrolls report - which suggested a sharp deterioration in the labor market and increased the likelihood that the central bank would step in to boost the economy.
Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits came in at 226,000 for the week ended August 2, compared with an estimate of 221,000 as per economists polled by Reuters.
"It's certainly validating the increase in jobless claims we've been seeing, which also jives with the weakness we saw in the employment report," said Ben Laidler, head of equity strategy at Bradesco BBI.
"The narrative is clear, the economy is slowing. It may not be headed towards recession, but it's definitely slowing."
Traders are now betting almost fully on a September rate cut, with at least two moves expected this year, CME Group's FedWatch tool showed.
Investors are also watching for Trump's interim replacement for Fed Governor Adriana Kugler in the coming days, amid expectations that the nominee would be a policy dove who will likely favor bringing interest rates lower.
Kugler's resignation leaves an opening at the seven-member Fed Board led by Chair Jerome Powell, who Trump has repeatedly criticized for not cutting borrowing costs. Powell's tenure is due to end in May.
Meanwhile, chipmaker Intel (INTC.O), fell 2.1% after Trump called for its chief executive's resignation, saying, "the Intel CEO is highly conflicted and should resign immediately."
Second-quarter earnings barrage continued at full throttle. DoorDash (DASH.O), topped revenue estimates and forecast a stronger-than-expected gross merchandise value for the current quarter. Its shares jumped 7.3%.
Datadog (DDOG.O), jumped 5.9% after beating estimates for second-quarter results.
Reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel
