Oct 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday, boosted by a strong quarterly update from TSMC that reinforced investor optimism around AI and extended a rally in chip stocks.
TSMC (2330.TW), opens new tab, the world's biggest producer of advanced chips, raised its full-year revenue forecast on a bullish outlook for spending on artificial intelligence. U.S.-listed shares of the company , which also posted a better-than-expected record quarterly profit, rose 2% premarket.
Shares of some major U.S. chipmakers also advanced, building on gains from Wednesday when ASML's (ASML.AS), solid quarterly results and a $40 billion data center deal by BlackRock and a Nvidia-backed group fueled optimism around AI.
Nvidia (NVDA.O), rose 1.3%, Micron Technology (MU.O), added 3.7% and Broadcom (AVGO.O), gained 1.7%.
The AI-driven momentum and optimism around U.S. rate cuts have helped markets in recent months. AI-related tech stocks were among the biggest boosts to markets this week.
Robust earnings from major U.S. banks also grabbed attention this week, offering fresh signs of economic resilience at a time when official macroeconomic reports remain delayed due to an ongoing government shutdown.
The S&P 500 banking index (.SPXBK), registered its first three-day winning streak in more than three weeks on Wednesday as the country's six biggest lenders exceeded Wall Street expectations for third-quarter profit this week.
At 7:25 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 120 points, or 0.26%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 29.25 points, or 0.44%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 154 points, or 0.62%.
Meanwhile, investors continued to monitor the recent escalation of China-U.S. trade tensions.
"While equities have rebounded considerably from last week's lows ... it seems unlikely that said damage will be entirely erased unless and until participants do indeed have faith that latest round of tariff threats are indeed just that, and not a realistic prospect," Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone, said in a note.
China accused the U.S. of stoking panic over its rare earth controls and said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had made "grossly distorted" remarks about a top Chinese trade negotiator, rejecting a White House call to roll back the curbs.
Top U.S. officials on Wednesday blasted China's major expansion of rare earth export controls as a threat to global supply chains, stressing that Washington did not want to escalate the conflict.
President Donald Trump's threat to cancel the U.S.-China meet and impose an additional 100% tariffs on Chinese goods capped investors' risk appetite last week.
Bessent emphasized that Trump is ready to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month.
A slate of Fed officials including governors Stephen Miran and Christopher Waller, Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Richmond President Thomas Barkin are set to speak later in the day.
Among other moves, Salesforce (CRM.N), rose 5.3% as the company said it expects revenue of more than $60 billion in 2030, above Wall Street estimates.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE.N), slumped 9.7% after it forecast annual profit and revenue below Wall Street expectations.
J.B. Hunt (JBHT.O), shares gained 12.8% after a higher third-quarter profit.
Reporting by Sukriti Gupta and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel
