From Nasdaq:

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are set to open higher on Thursday as the market reels from the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged, with its undeterred focus on battling inflation. Fresh data showed that initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 27 rose to a seasonally adjusted 224,000, higher than expectations of 212,000.

Analysts predict positive iPhone sales growth for Apple, but also a challenging year for the company in China. Meanwhile, Amazon.com is anticipated to see a boost in fee revenue from its “Buy With Prime” service while Meta Platforms is unlikely to see a significant impact from generative AI on its advertising business. The three tech giants are up between 0.6% and 1.2% in premarket trading and will report earnings after the closing bell.

Dow e-minis are up 10 points, S&P 500 e-minis are up 19.5 points, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis are up 101.5 points. Dow component Merck climbed 2.0% after the drug maker’s upbeat fourth-quarter results, while Honeywell dropped 2.6% after forecasting weak first-quarter profit. Align Technology jumped 14.3% after forecasting first-quarter revenue above estimates and Royal Caribbean Group rose 3.9% after projecting 2024 profit above expectations. Qualcomm fell 2.1% on concerns over Android sales in China, while New York Community Bancorp recovered 2.9% after Wednesday’s 38% slump.



Read more: US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq eye higher open after Fed-driven selloff