Advertisment
U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday after blowout earnings results from two of the biggest tech companies: Apple and Facebook.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials bloomed 131 points, or 0.4%, to 33,855.
Futures for the S&P 500 took on 27.75 points, or 0.7%, to 4,204.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite index zoomed 142.25 points, or 1%, to 14,034.50.
Investors pointed to strong earnings results from both iPhone maker Apple and social media platform Facebook in explaining Thursday’s gains.
Apple said that sales jumped 54% during the quarter, with each product category seeing double-digit growth. The company also said it would increase its dividend by 7%, and authorized $90 billion in share buybacks. Apple shares were up nearly 3% in early trading.
Facebook’s revenue jumped 48%, driven by higher-priced ads. Facebook surged more than 7% in the premarket. Qualcomm shares soared 5% in early trading after reporting a 52% jump in revenue.
Cruise stocks jumped after the Centers for Disease Control said sailings from U.S. ports could begin mid-July. Carnival and Norwegian shares jumped more than 2% in pre-market trading.
Thursday marks President Joe Biden’s 100th day in office. On Wednesday evening, he made his first address to a joint session of Congress where he pushed his so-far popular agenda, which includes a $2 trillion infrastructure plan as well as a freshly unveiled, $1.8 trillion plan for families, children and students.
Thursday is also the busiest day of the quarterly earnings season, with roughly 11% of the S&P 500 slated to provide quarterly updates.
McDonald’s published its results before the opening bell Thursday and told investors that its sales have finally topped pre-pandemic levels.
The Dow component also raised its outlook for systemwide sales growth.
Caterpillar beat expectations and traded higher, while Merck was trading lower following disappointing results. Amazon, Gilead Sciences, Twitter, U.S. Steel and Western Digital will post quarterly results after the market closes.
Economic data released Thursday will give investors an update on the progress of the economic recovery.
First-quarter Gross Domestic Product will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and is expected to show a 6.5% annual increase in economic activity, according to Dow Jones estimates.
Initial jobless claims numbers will also be released, with economists surveyed by Dow Jones expecting an increase of 528,000, about the same as last week. Pending home sales figures are also due.
Overseas, in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rocketed 0.8%. Markets in Japan were closed for holiday.
Oil prices acquired 96 cents to $64.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices moved upward $1.60 to $1,775.50 U.S.
