Traders gather on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on August 4, 2022.
Source: New York Stock Exchange
Stock futures rose in overnight trading Thursday, with stocks rising on strong earnings results from tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft.
futures of Dow Jones Industrial Average I got 60 points. S&P500 Futures rose 0.9%; Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 1.2%.
shares of alphabet Shares soared about 15% in after-hours trading after first-quarter profits beat expectations. The company also approved its first-ever dividend and $70 billion in stock buybacks.
microsoft Shares rose 5% after the software maker reported third-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations.
The strength of these mega-cap stocks could lift major averages after a losing day on Wall Street. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 375 points on Thursday, while S&P500 And that Nasdaq Composite They fell by 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
Thursday’s selloff was prompted by new U.S. economic data showing a sharp slowdown in growth and persistent inflation. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 1.6% in the first quarter, compared to the Dow Jones forecast of 2.4%. Meanwhile, the personal consumption expenditure price index increased at a pace of 3.4% during the same period, significantly higher than the 1.8% increase in the previous quarter.
“The Fed will be more concerned about inflation being above target in the first quarter than it is about slowing growth,” said Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank. “The Fed is likely to slow the pace of balance sheet outflows at some point in its next few meetings, but it will likely wait until September to begin cutting rates.”
Still, the major averages are on track for a winning week. The S&P 500 is up 1.6% since the start of the week and on pace to end a three-week losing streak. The Nasdaq rose more than 2%, heading for its first positive week in five weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose only 0.3% this week.
So far, about 38% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results, and nearly 80% of them have exceeded earnings estimates.
Investors are waiting for further earnings from energy giants Chevron and ExxonMobil on Friday before the bell.
