US stock futures edged cautiously higher on Thursday as investors worried about the US debt pile braced for a looming House vote on President Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax bill.
S&P 500 futures (ES=F) nudged up roughly 0.2%, while contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) added about 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) clung to the flat line, coming off an almost 2% drop for the blue-chip index on Wednesday.
Markets are treading carefully as they continue to grapple with the US deficit concerns that fueled the previous session’s selloff. The spotlight is now on the budget bill, which could go to a pre-dawn House vote after last-minute revisions late Wednesday to win over Republican holdouts.
The GOP’s slim majority in the chamber means the fate of the bill is unclear, as markets worry the legislation could add trillions to the existing $36 trillion deficit. Moody’s downgraded the US credit rating on Friday and directly cited the proposal in its explanation.
Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC-USD) continued to set fresh record highs, topping $111,000 for the first time as the leading cryptocurrency rose over 3% to $111,878. Ether (ETH-USD) also made gains amid growing institutional demand.
On the economic data front, preliminary PMI readings on US manufacturing and services due later will be watched for any insight into the impact of tariffs on businesses in May. Also in focus are a weekly update on jobless claims and US existing home sales.
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