Nasdaq 100 futures showed a positive trend Thursday evening as traders priced important earnings reports ahead of the release of the crucial jobs report. Futures tied to the tech-heavy index rose 0.4%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 152 points, also reflecting a 0.4% gain. S&P 500 futures followed suit, rising 0.4%.
A notable driver of this upward momentum was Amazon, whose shares rose more than 5% after beating Wall Street's earnings expectations, buoyed by solid performance in the cloud computing and advertising sectors. Likewise, Intel saw its shares rise more than 5% after its revenue beat analysts' forecasts and provided optimistic guidance for future performance.
These gains came after a challenging trading day on Thursday, in which the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite indexes suffered declines. The decline was largely attributed to disappointing earnings reports from tech giants Microsoft and Meta Platforms, which led to the worst performance for both indexes since early September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also saw a decline, falling more than 300 points, mainly influenced by negative sentiment surrounding major technology stocks such as Microsoft, Intel and Amazon.
Jay Hatfield, chief investment officer at Infrastructure Capital Management, noted that the declines were predominantly driven by technology stocks. He suggested that investors may take a more cautious approach as they navigate the uncertain landscape ahead of the next election.
Thursday marked the end of a month characterized by losses, impacting a year that would otherwise have shown strength in the markets. The Dow fell 1.3%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composites fell 1% and 0.5%, respectively.
As traders look ahead, all eyes are on the jobs data that will be released Friday morning. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a modest gain of 100,000 nonfarm jobs in October, which would represent the smallest increase in nearly four years. The unemployment rate is expected to remain stable at 4.1%, a figure that investors will monitor closely as it could influence market sentiment going forward.