By Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta
(Reuters) -Wall Street’s main indexes were set to open higher on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading gains, as investors cheered streaming giant Netflix’s strong quarterly performance and President Donald Trump’s multi-billion dollar support to bolster AI infrastructure.
Netflix jumped 14.6% in premarket trading after reporting a record number of subscribers for the holiday quarter, enabling it to increase prices for most service plans.
Other streaming companies such as Roku and Walt Disney added 3.8% and 1.3%, respectively.
“Here is the leader (Netflix) that is becoming even more of a leader distancing itself from other competitors with key growth drivers being not only in terms of delivering content but then charging more for advertisements,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
At 8:29 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 154 points, or 0.35%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 33.75 points, or 0.55% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 211.75 points, or 0.98%.
Among the top movers, Oracle gained 10%, a day after Trump said the company would invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure with OpenAI and SoftBank, even though there was no clarity on funding.
Server makers Dell and Super Micro added 5.3% and 4.3%, respectively, while AI winners Microsoft added 1.6% and Nvidia rose 2.9%.
“It’ll give additional reason for investors to feel encouraged by the direction of equity prices confirming that the president is very pro-business in general and pro-tech in particular, and really wants to do whatever he can to propel U.S.-based business,” Stovall said.
Data pointing to a strong economy amid cooling inflation and Trump’s moderate approach to tariffs have helped risk-taking since last week, with the benchmark S&P 500 less than 1% away from all-time highs. Stocks have also benefited from easing Treasury yields.
However, Trump has warned that tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union could be issued on Feb. 1, a reminder for markets that risks of a potential trade war and fresh inflation pressures prevailed.
Traders expect the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged when it meets next week and expect it to deliver its first rate cut this year in July, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Procter & Gamble advanced 3.3% after beating second-quarter estimates, driven by growing demand for its household items in the United States.
Abbott Laboratories fell 1.6% after it forecast first-quarter profit below estimates and posted weak fourth-quarter sales in segments other than medical devices.
