Thursday brought some optimism back to Wall Street after Wednesday's pullback, with U.S. stock futures rallying across the board following a surprisingly strong January employment report. After hitting a record high on Tuesday, major indices had stumbled Wednesday, but Thursday's premarket action suggested investors were ready to shake off that brief bout of nerves.

The employment numbers turned out considerably better than economists expected. The U.S. economy added 130,000 jobs in January, nearly doubling the consensus forecast of 70,000 and representing a substantial improvement from December's modest 48,000. Of course, there's always a catch. The report included sweeping benchmark revisions that wiped out roughly 898,000 jobs from payroll estimates covering the period from April 2024 through March 2025. Those kinds of revisions always make you wonder what we actually know about the economy in real time, but markets seemed willing to focus on the better-than-expected headline number.

The bond market reflected the jobs data's implications for Federal Reserve policy. The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.175%, while the two-year yield was at 3.502%. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, markets are now pricing in a 94.1% likelihood that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged when it meets in March. Translation: don't hold your breath for rate cuts anytime soon.

As of Thursday's premarket session, futures showed gains across the board. Dow Jones futures were up 0.21%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.23%, Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.17%, and the Russell 2000 futures climbed 0.39%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.35% at $694.34, while the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) declined 0.27% to $614.76.

Stocks Making Headlines

Micron Keeps Climbing

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) jumped 3.33% in premarket trading, continuing its momentum after surging nearly 10% on Wednesday. The catalyst? Morgan Stanley boosted its price target to $450, implying roughly 10% upside from Wednesday's closing price. The memory chip maker is maintaining strong price trends across short, medium, and long-term timeframes, suggesting the rally might have legs.

Novocure Soars on FDA Win

Here's a story that actually matters for patients and investors alike. Novocure Ltd. (NVCR) shares rocketed nearly 33% in Thursday's premarket session after scoring FDA approval for Optune Pax, a treatment for adult patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most challenging malignancies to treat, so any new therapeutic option represents meaningful progress. The stock shows strong short and medium-term price trends, though its long-term trajectory has been weaker.

Fastly Delivers Stunning Results

Fastly Inc. (FSLY) was up nearly 43% in Thursday's premarket after absolutely crushing fourth-quarter expectations. The content delivery network company reported earnings per share of $0.12 on revenue of $172.61 million, handily beating Wall Street's expectations of a loss of $0.03 per share on revenue of $161.38 million. That's the kind of beat that makes analysts scramble to revise their models. Fastly maintains strong price trends across all timeframes, and this earnings performance should give the bulls plenty of ammunition.

McDonald's Serves Up Solid Quarter

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and sales, driven by its value offerings and promotional strategy. CEO Chris Kempczinski explained that the company has improved traffic and its value and affordability scores by actually listening to what customers want. Revolutionary concept, right? The fast-food giant maintains strong price trends across short, medium, and long-term periods.

Applovin Beats but Falls Anyway

Sometimes even good news isn't good enough. Applovin Corp. (APP) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, with earnings per share of $3.24 on revenue of $1.66 billion, beating Wall Street estimates of $2.93 per share on revenue of $1.61 billion. Yet shares fell more than 4% in Thursday's premarket session. The mobile technology company is showing weak price trends across all timeframes, suggesting investors may have been expecting even more or are concerned about guidance.

What Happened Wednesday

Wednesday's session showed modest declines across most major indices. The Dow Jones slipped 0.13% to close at 50,121.40, while the S&P 500 barely budged, falling just 0.0049% to end at 6,941.47. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.16% to finish at 23,066.47, and the Russell 2000 dropped 0.38% to close at 2,669.47.

What Analysts Are Saying

Kevin Gordon, head of macro research and strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, noted that investors now face round two with the Consumer Price Index report scheduled for Friday. "The market is aggressively pricing out rate cuts for this year after the jobs report," Gordon observed.

The numbers back up his assessment. The probability of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month collapsed to just 6% from 20% earlier in the week. Meanwhile, the chances of at least one rate cut by June now stand at less than 60%, down from 75% on Tuesday. That's a dramatic shift in expectations over just a few days.

Gordon added that the Fed's recent messaging appears vindicated by the data. "The Fed looks vindicated in saying there has been some stabilization in the unemployment rate. The three-month average of nonfarm payroll growth shifted up to 73,000 in January, the highest since February 2025," he explained.

What's Coming Thursday

Investors have several economic data points to watch. Initial jobless claims for the week ending February 7 will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. January's existing home sales data arrives at 10:00 a.m., and Fed governor Stephen Miran is scheduled to speak at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Commodities, Crypto, and Global Markets

Crude oil futures were trading 0.36% higher in early New York trading, hovering around $64.86 per barrel. Gold declined 0.47% to trade around $5,059.50 per ounce, well below its record high of $5,595.46. The U.S. Dollar Index was marginally higher at 96.8610.

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading 0.15% higher at $66,906.94 per coin, showing relative stability in the crypto space.

Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday. China's CSI 300 surged while India's Nifty 50 declined. Australia's ASX 200, Japan's Nikkei 225, and South Korea's Kospi indices posted gains, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell. European markets were mostly higher in early trading Thursday.

The stage is set for an interesting end to the week, with the CPI report Friday potentially determining whether Thursday's optimism can hold or if markets will once again get nervous about the Fed's policy path.