Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on January 17, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Stock futures rose Friday as investors looked to build on the strong tech-led gains seen in the previous session.
Futures linked to the S&P 500 gained 0.4%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 66 points, or 0.2%. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.7%.
Stocks moved sharply higher Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq erasing their 2024 losses. On a weekly basis, the Nasdaq is standing out with a 0.55% advance, while the Dow is down 0.33%. The S&P 500 is marginally lower by 0.06%.
Thursday’s gains were powered by major advances in the technology sector, after Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple to a buy rating. Apple posted its biggest one-day gain since May 5, 2023. That move came even as the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield climbed.
Traders will get a slew of earnings reports Friday, including Travelers, Regions Financial, Fifth Third, Ally Financial and State Street.
“I think you’ll see the ten-year yield chopping around 4% or so and the market just going back and forth here until we get some better information from earnings season,” said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “That could persist for a good part of the year … and then you get the election, things get resolved, and people get more positive into the fourth quarter.”
Wall Street also kept its eyes on Washington after Congress passed a bill to avert a partial government shutdown. This stopgap measure keeps the federal government funded through March 1 and March 8. The Senate voted 77-18 to pass the bill, while the House voted to move it forward, 314-108. The bill goes to President Joe Biden for signing.
Shares of iRobot plunged about 40% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the European Commission would likely reject Amazon’s bid to acquire the Roomba manufacturer. The Journal cited people familiar with the matter.
Correction: An earlier version incorrectly stated that European regulators said they would likely reject Amazon’s bid to acquire iRobot.