Stocks closed sharply higher for a second time in as many days this holiday-shortened trading week, although Nvidia and other semiconductor shares fell on a report Meta Platforms may use Google's AI chips in their data centers.

Futures wavered as the market rebound faces a key test. Nvidia and AMD fell on a report that Meta will buy Google AI chips. Alibaba, Best Buy are earnings winners.

Investors have worried about lofty technology valuations amid concerns over steep artificial intelligence spending.

At market open, Nvidia Corp. took the spotlight for its solid earnings report. Now, another company is shining: Walmart Inc. Walmart reported better-than-expected earnings on Thursday before the opening bell,

S&P 500 fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.8%, extending Thursdays rout, while the Dow rose 0.3% with a 133-point gain. Nvidias rally continued to fade, dragging tech lower as concerns over stretched AI valuations persisted.

US markets are kicking off the day's trading with a noticeable spring in the step: the big tech players NVDA (Nvidia), TSLA (Tesla), GOOGL/GOOG

S&P 500 futures are up 0.1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down less than 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures are adding just 0.1%. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 498.5 points, or 1.

Nvidia reported record revenue for the third quarter of $57.0 billion, up 22% from the previous quarter and up 62% from a year ago. Following the release of the AI chipmaker's earnings reports, US stock index futures experienced a general increase in trading on Wednesday,

Tech-stocks caught a fresh wave of momentum Thursday as expectations from the Nvidia Corporation earnings report reverberated across US and global markets. US stock-futures pointed to a solid open, Nasdaq futures up ~1.8%, S&P 500 futures near +1.3% and Dow Jones Industrial Average saw an increase of 1.21%.