S&P 500, Nasdaq set for higher open as SK Hynix lifts chips; Fed in focus

Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 pointed to a higher open, with the move led by a rally in semiconductor shares after SK Hynix gained, lifting chipmakers broadly. The transmission channel runs through the semiconductor supply chain: a strong move in a leading memory producer tends to re-rate sector peers through expectations for AI-related demand, since high-bandwidth memory is a bottleneck input for accelerator-based computing. Nvidia, AMD, and Intel are the most directly exposed among the listed names, while Microsoft and Amazon carry indirect exposure through their large AI capital spending and cloud demand, and Robinhood (HOOD) is more sensitive to retail risk appetite and trading volumes. Traders are also positioning around Federal Reserve commentary, as rate expectations affect the valuation multiples of long-duration growth stocks that dominate the Nasdaq. The next catalyst to watch is the scheduled Fed speaker calendar and any inflation data that could shift expectations for the path of policy rates.

The Nasdaq-100 (NDX) is the US large-cap tech benchmark. NDX is more sensitive to rate decisions than SPX because of longer-duration cash flows, and heavily concentrated in Tech/Comms names — mega-cap earnings season dominates price action.

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