Stock futures jumped in early trading Thursday as the market tried to recover some ground lost during this month’s sell-off, and investors reacted positively to earnings from Meta Platforms.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 190 points or 0.6%. S&P 500 futures gained 1.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 1.7%.
A slew of corporate earnings reports drove market sentiment Thursday.
“It’s been a pretty good earnings season and that is supportive for the equity market,” Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist at Crossmark Global Investments, said.
Shares of Meta surged more than 14% following a beat on earnings, a sign that investors may see signs of relief in the beaten-up tech sector. Shares were down 48% on the year heading into the results.
Meanwhile, shares of Qualcomm gained more than 6% in extended trading on the back of strong earnings, while PayPal rose roughly 3% despite issuing weak guidance for the second quarter.
McDonald’s, Merck, Eli Lilly and Southwest were all higher in early morning trading after better-than-expected quarterly reports.
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The premarket moves followed a volatile session Wednesday that saw the Nasdaq Composite stoop to its lowest level in 2022, as stocks looked to bounce back from a tech-led April sell-off.
Stocks have struggled this month amid concerns about slowing global growth, rising inflation and the Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening.
U.S. gross domestic product unexpectedly declined in the first quarter by 1.4% from the year prior, compared with the 1% growth expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. Stock futures came off their highs slightly after the release Thursday morning.
The S&P 500 was down 7.7% for April — on pace for its biggest monthly decline since March 2020. The Nasdaq Composite has lost more than 12% since the start of April and is headed for its worst one-month performance since October 2008. The Dow has been the relative outperformer, losing about 4% this month.
