US stock futures leaned higher on Thursday as investors digested minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting and geared up for Walmart (WMT) earnings for insight into the American consumer.

Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) ticked about 0.2% higher, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) moved up 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) hovered just above the flatline, following a solid advance across the major benchmarks the previous session.

Investors parsed minutes from the Fed’s January meeting, which revealed deep divides among policymakers regarding the path forward for interest rates. But even as the minutes revealed talk of potential rate hikes amid stubborn inflation, investor expectations for two rate cuts by the end of the year were not immediately swayed.

On the economic calendar, traders will turn their focus to weekly jobless claims data due Thursday, along with the pending home sales report.

Earnings continue, with Walmart (WMT) acting as a bellwether for the health of the retail sector, reporting before the market opens Thursday.

Elsewhere, tariff headlines have returned as President Trump's administration lashed out against the New York Federal Reserve. The regional Fed bank earned the White House's ire by releasing a report indicating that US consumers and businesses are bearing the brunt of the fiscal weight of Trump's favorite economic tool.

Bloomberg reports:

OpenAI is close to finalizing the first phase of a new funding round that is likely to bring in more than $100 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, a record-breaking financing deal that would give the startup additional capital to build out its artificial intelligence tools.

As the ChatGPT maker prepares to spend trillions in infrastructure investment, the overall valuation of the company, including the eventual funding, could exceed $850 billion, according to some of the people. That’s higher than the $830 billion initially expected. The company’s pre-money value will remain $730 billion, said one person, all of whom asked not to be identified discussing private information.

The first portion of the funding round will largely come from strategic investors including Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBY), Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the people said. If those companies invest near the highest ranges of what has been discussed, those commitments will near $100 billion. Those companies are expected to finalize their allocations by the end of this month, some of the people said.

Read more here.

Carvana (CVNA) stock hit a rough patch as investors took poorly to an earnings report highlighting high expenses in a push for extreme growth.

Bloomberg reports:

The online used-car retailer said its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $511 million, lower than the average analyst estimate of $536 million. Higher non-vehicle costs and depreciation were contributors, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

Carvana’s shares fell more than 15% at 6:49 p.m. during after-hours trading in New York, paring an earlier decline of more than 20%.

The company’s stock has been trading at all-time highs this year as investors expect Carvana to continue strong sales growth and improve margins as it builds scale in its operations. Shares hit a record of $478 in January, but have fallen since short seller Gotham City Research questioned related-party transactions and accused the company without proof of inflating earnings.

Read more here.