US stock futures hovered near the flatline on Thursday, following fresh record closes for both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in the previous session. Investors are gearing up for the Q3 earnings season, which will gain momentum next week as major banks report quarterly results. In premarket trading, PepsiCo edged up 0.2% after posting better-than-expected revenue and earnings, while Delta Air Lines jumped more than 5% after reporting upbeat forecasts for the end of 2025. AMD climbed 1.5%, extending this week’s strong rally after announcing a deal with OpenAI, and Nvidia gained 1.3% as the US approved several billion $ worth of its chip exports to the UAE. Meanwhile, the ongoing government shutdown continues to delay the release of key economic data. Even so, traders remain confident that the Fed will cut rates twice more this year, after minutes from the latest meeting indicated policymakers are balancing downside risks to employment against persistent inflation pressures.