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Stock futures are up Wednesday following a losing session on Wall Street that pulled the indexes further from record levels.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials ballooned 176 points, or 0.4%, to 39,856.
Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 22.5 points, or 0.4%, to 5,287.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite vaulted 85 points, or 0.5%, to 18,534.
Merck shares were up more than 4% in the premarket after the Food and Drug Administration approved on Tuesday the use of Winrevair, a drug aimed at treating adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Those moves following a negative day for the three major indexes. The Dow slipped nearly 0.1%, while the NASDAQ fell 0.4% as technology stocks struggled. With a slide of 0.3%, the S&P 500 saw its third down trading day in a row.
As of Tuesday’s close, the S&P 500 has added 2.1% in the month and 9.1% in the quarter. The Nasdaq has climbed 1.4% in March and 8.7% over the three-month period, while the Dow has added 0.7% and 4.2% in the respective periods.
This would mark the best first-quarter gain for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones since 2019 and 2021, respectively, when the indexes rose 13.1% and 7.4%. All three major averages are on pace to notch their fifth straight winning month and second straight winning quarter.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 hiked 0.9%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 1.4%,
Oil prices skidded 41 cents to $81.21 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices flew $18.30 to $2,217.50 U.S. an ounce.
