U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday after volatile sessions earlier this week as investors assessed risks to the AI trade and growing tariff doubts heading into Nvidia's earnings due later in the day.

February has been a choppy month for U.S. equities as investors questioned if massive AI spending touted by technology giants was actually paying off, while tariff uncertainty further stoked volatility.


Several sectors ranging from commercial real estate to trucking and logistics have recently logged steep declines, as new developments in the AI space stoked worries of industry-wide disruptions.

"Investors are searching for long-term 'winners' that will use AI to become more productive, but very few companies have quantified the impact on earnings," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

"For the companies facing fears of AI disruption, we believe earnings stabilization is the key to share price stabilization, but disruption uncertainty is unlikely to be resolved in the near term."

U.S. President Donald Trump boasted of stock market gains in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday and said that "almost all" countries and corporations want to stick to tariff and investment agreements previously made with the United States.

Trump's temporary global tariff of 10% came into effect on Tuesday after the Supreme Court's sweeping ruling last week. He later said the levy would be 15%, but it was unclear when and if it would apply.

Stocks got a boost on Tuesday as sentiment towards AI stocks improved, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab closing more than 1% higher.

At 07:05 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 122 points, or 0.25%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 18.25 points, or 0.26%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 89.5 points, or 0.36%.

All eyes will be on Nvidia's (NVDA.O), opens new tab earnings due after markets close on Wednesday, with AI investors seeking evidence that the chipmaker's profits are growing on the back of Big Tech's $630 billion capital spending budget for 2026.

Its shares edged 0.8% higher in premarket trading, while other megacap and growth stocks were mixed.