U.S. stock futures rise on Wall Street after Iran concerns ease; Broadcom shares jump

Investing.com - U.S. stock index futures rose Wednesday evening, continuing the rally after a series of strong economic data helped Wall Street shake off ongoing concerns about Iran conflicts.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) performed well in after-hours trading, as the AI chip manufacturer reported earnings that exceeded market expectations and issued a strong outlook for the current quarter.

The market was encouraged by signs of stability in the oil market, and after a sharp decline earlier this week due to escalating geopolitical tensions, bargain buying also began to emerge.

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As of 19:42 Eastern Time (08:42 Beijing Time), the S&P 500 futures were up 0.3% at 6,898.25 points. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4% to 25,223.75 points, and Dow futures increased 0.1% to 48,861.0 points.

Broadcom Gains on Strong AI-Driven Outlook

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) rose over 5% in after-hours trading after reporting first-quarter revenue and profit that beat expectations.

The company also forecast second-quarter revenue of $22 billion, above the market expectation of $20.4 billion, with nearly half of the revenue coming from sales of its advanced AI chips.

Broadcom’s strong performance helped boost confidence that AI trading remains ongoing, with chip manufacturers especially poised to benefit from this rapidly growing industry.

Competitor NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) increased 0.3% in after-hours trading. CEO Jensen Huang earlier Wednesday said that demand for AI-driven chips is “above very high levels.”

Software giant CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) rose over 4% on Wednesday after reporting quarterly results that exceeded expectations, helping to ease some concerns about AI-related disruptions in the enterprise software sector.

Wall Street Boosted by Strong Data and Stable Oil Prices

Wall Street indices rose on Wednesday, partly due to stronger-than-expected private sector employment data for February, indicating continued labor market growth.

Additionally, the ISM U.S. Services PMI for February rose to its highest level in over three years, signaling robust domestic demand. The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book also showed an optimistic outlook for the economy.

Before these data were released, Challenger layoffs data will be published on Thursday, and non-farm payrolls on Friday. The latter will be closely watched for clues about interest rates.

The S&P 500 gained 0.8% on Wednesday, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.3%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%.

Wall Street was also supported by a degree of stability in oil prices, which retreated most of their intraday gains after President Donald Trump proposed providing risk insurance for all maritime trade through the Strait of Hormuz and promoted the possibility of naval intervention.

However, oil prices remain near multi-month highs, surging after weekend attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Iran, prompting strong retaliation from the Islamic Republic.

This conflict and its inflationary impact—especially through energy prices—remain a key focus for Wall Street, which earlier this week saw a sharp decline in U.S. stocks amid concerns over escalation.

U.S., Israeli, and Iranian officials have all stated this week that there are no plans to de-escalate. Iran denied reports on Wednesday that its intelligence agencies had recently contacted the U.S. to discuss ending the war.

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