Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded early Friday as traders tried to move past credit concerns that sparked a big sell-off in regional banks Thursday.
Futures for the 30-stock index grabbed 80 points, or 0.2%, to 46,240.
Futures for the S&P 500 faded 5.25 points, or 0.1%, to 6,663.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ slumped 67.25 points, or 0.3%, to 24,764.
Stocks that led Thursday’s bank selloff were rallying back in pre-market trading, boosting futures, as Wall Street defended the shares and traders bet any bad credit bets were one-offs and not part of a bigger crisis. Zions and Western Alliance disclosed bad loans over the last 48 hours, which sparked a big selloff in the stocks that eventually dragged down the whole market Thursday. Zion lost 13%, while Western Alliance tanked by 11% Thursday.
But Zions Bancorp climbed more than 4% in early trading Friday after receiving an upgrade from Baird, which said the drop in market value for the regional bank was out of proportion considering the size of loan losses it was potentially facing.
Investment bank Jefferies, caught in the storm for its exposure to bankrupt auto parts retailer First Brands, was last up nearly 5% after Oppenheimer raised its rating to outperform. Jefferies was down 11% Thursday.
Better-than-expected earnings Friday from Fifth Third Bancorp also assuaged worries, sending the stock higher by 2% in early trading. The bank’s profit jumped last quarter even after posting a jump in credit losses tied to exposure to bankrupt subprime auto lender Tricolor.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 ditched 1.4% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 2.5%%.
Oil prices let go of four cents to $57.42 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gathered $4.80 to $4,309.40 U.S. per ounce.
