Futures linked to the Nasdaq-100 were higher on Thursday, boosted by gains from Facebook-parent Meta Platforms.
Nasdaq-100 futures gained 1.3%. S&P 500 futures jumped 0.5%. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43 points, or 0.1%.
Meta rose more than 19% in premarket trading after reporting a fourth-quarter earnings beat and announcing a $40 billion stock buyback. This helped investors to look past losses in the business that managed the transportation.
The move follows a positive day for three major indexes. The S&P 500 gained 1.05% on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq Composite closed 2% higher. Meanwhile, the Dow posted a small gain of 0.02% after losing more than 500 points earlier in the day.
Wednesday came after the Federal Reserve announced a 0.25% interest rate hike. That reflected a 0.5 percent decline in the December meeting, bolstering investors’ hopes that inflation is cooling enough for the central bank to take notice. But the central bank gave no indication of an impending rate break.
“Traders think that the Fed is on the back foot and that the risk of inflation is very low,” said Jamie Dutta, market strategist at Vantage. “The Fed is willing to change its mind and should do so if the economy loses.”
Investors watch Thursday for reports from household names including Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Ford Motor and Starbucks. They will also look at data on unemployment claims, productivity, labor costs and factory regulations.
