U.S. stock futures were mixed on Thursday, after a lower close on Wednesday, as the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 advanced, but the Dow Jones rose.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.49%, and the two-year bond was at 4.07%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 96.2% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged during June’s meeting.

Index	Performance (+/-)
Dow Jones	0.29%
S&P 500	-0.37%
Nasdaq 100	-0.85%
Russell 2000	0.16%

• CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) was 9.98% in premarket on Thursday, despite beating estimates as it announced a 4-for-1 stock split.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that CRWD maintains a strong price trend in the short, long, and medium terms.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that AVGO maintains a strong price trend in the long, short, and medium terms, with a good quality score.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that JBIO maintains a strong price trend in the long term but a weak trend in the short and medium terms.

• Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) was 0.17% higher as analysts expect it to report earnings of $1.67 on revenue of $2.43 billion, after the closing bell.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that LULU maintains a weak price trend in the long, medium, and short terms, with a solid value score.

• PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) slid 20.54% after the company released its third-quarter earnings report and issued fourth-quarter EPS guidance below the analyst estimate.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that PVH maintains a strong price trend in the short, long, and medium terms, with a poor growth score.

Energy, consumer staples, and health care stocks registered the biggest gains on Wednesday, while information technology and financial equities closed the session lower.

BlackRock maintains a positive stance on the U.S. stock market, largely fueled by the artificial intelligence sector and robust corporate performance. The investment firm explicitly states, “We stay overweight U.S. equities on the Al theme and resilient earnings.”

This optimism is rooted in the expectation that the ongoing AI boom will continue lifting corporate earnings, which has “proved strong enough to help offset the drag from higher interest rates.”

Furthermore, BlackRock asserts that “contained damage to global growth from the Mideast conflict and strong earnings expectations – particularly in tech – keep us risk-on.”

Regarding the broader U.S. economy, BlackRock anticipates steady conditions but acknowledges lingering monetary challenges. They expect economic data to reveal “modest but stable job gains, keeping the Federal Reserve focused on sticky inflation.”

Because of this persistent inflation and the market adjusting to higher rates, they remain underweight on long-term U.S. Treasuries. Overall, BlackRock views the U.S. economic landscape as resilient, prioritizing structural AI growth while navigating an environment characterized by higher interest rates.

Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Thursday.

• Initial jobless claims for the week ending May 30 and the first-quarter U.S. productivity report will both be released by 8:30 a.m. ET, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin will speak at the same time.

Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.78% to hover around $95.27 per barrel.

Gold Spot Dollar rose 0.61% to hover around $4,461.56 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $5,595.46 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.09% lower at the 99.4440 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 5.09% lower at $63,506.41 per coin, as per the last 24 hours.

Asian markets closed lower on Thursday, as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, India’s Nifty 50, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Australia’s ASX 200, South Korea’s Kospi, and China’s CSI 300 indices fell. European markets were mixed in early trade.

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