Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Source: NYSE
Stock futures were flat in night trading after major averages rebounded from a three-day streak of losses on Thursday led by technology stocks.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 6 points. The S&P 500 futures were flat. Nasdaq 100 futures were slightly higher.
The futures move followed a comeback day on Wall Street with the Dow gaining 186 points and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ending the day 1.06% and 1.77% higher, respectively. Microsoft, Facebook, and Alphabet all gained more than 1%, while Netflix and Apple each gained more than 2%.
Stocks of Tesla and other speculative parts of the market rebounded as Bitcoin prices rebounded after a roller coaster ride on Wednesday. However, Bitcoin briefly went negative after the finance department called for stricter cryptocurrency compliance with the IRS.
A new pandemic low in unemployment claims also added to the mood on Thursday. Initial unemployment benefits for the week ending May 15 stood at 444,000, the lowest since March 14, 2020, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected 452,000 new claims.
“Thursday’s improvement in jobless claims confirms our view that April’s disappointing job report was more of a slip than a sign of slowdown, and we expect the labor market to see significant improvement in the coming months,” he said Scott Ruesterholz, Portfolio Manager at Insight Investment.
Despite Thursday’s rebound, the Dow is down 0.9% over the past week on track to see its fourth negative week in the past five weeks. The S&P 500 is 0.4% lower from the week, in line with the pace of the second negative week in a row. The Nasdaq Composite is up 0.8% and is positioned to break a 4-week losing streak.
Home Depot shares rose 0.66% in expanded trading Thursday after the retailer announced a new $ 20 billion share buyback program. Home Depot’s announcement came after the company reported first quarter earnings and sales on Tuesday that weighed on analysts’ expectations
– CNBC’s Yun Li contributed to the coverage.
