Investing.com - U.S. futures extended gains on Thursday, after dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank is likely to cut rates at its next policy meeting this month.
Testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Powell said the central bank will “act as appropriate” as policymakers consider slowing investment, trade disputes and other issues affecting the global economy.
The minutes from the Fed’s June meeting released on Wednesday also showed that several policymakers were open to the idea of cutting rates.
Powell will repeat the same testimony at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT) to the Senate Banking Committee, with investors looking for more detail during his Q&A session.
Nasdaq 100 futures rose 18 points or 0.2% by 6:47 AM ET (10:47 GMT), while Dow futures gained 50 points or 0.2% and S&P 500 futures inched up 5 points or 0.2%.
Delta Airlines (NYSE:DAL) rose 2.6% in premarket trade after the company reported an 8.7% rise in revenue and a 39% rise in earnings in the quarter and forecast a strong summer. The airline has profited from not having the Boeing (NYSE:BA) 737 MAX in its fleet, and has gained passengers at the expense of rivals whose services have been disrupted by the model's grounding.
Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) fell 3.8% in premarket trade as broker downgrades followed a second quarter hit by a $400 million impairment. Reports suggested Citigroup (NYSE:C), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and UBS had all slashed their price target for the stock.
Technology stock gains were pared back slightly after France approved a digital tax on tech giants that is likely to hit Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). The U.S. warned that such a move is unfair to American companies.
Facebook inched up 0.2%, while Apple was up 0.2% and Twitter rose 0.6%.
On the data front, jobless claims and inflation data are out at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT).
In commodities, crude oil rose 0.6% to $60.78 a barrel as oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico were closed ahead of a storm, while tensions in the Middle East rose after Iran tried to block the passage of a British oil tanker. Gold futures gained 0.8% to $1,423.55 a troy ounce. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.2% to 96.505.