U.S. stock futures moved higher on Wednesday, November 21, 2018, as investors tried to regain footing after a steep two-session decline pushed the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average into negative territory for the year.
Technology and internet heavyweights, including Apple Inc, were among the names that had shed roughly $1 trillion in market value on Tuesday. They posted modest premarket gains ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, while oil prices also stabilized after falling about 6 percent.
The latest rebound came after a stretch of selling driven by concerns over slowing global growth and signs that corporate earnings may have peaked. Those worries have weighed on risk appetite and raised fresh questions about how long the decade-old bull market can continue.
On Tuesday, the Nasdaq ended at its weakest level in more than seven months. The S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow both slipped more than 1 percent for the year as technology shares kept sliding and disappointing retail results and forecasts added to the pressure.
By Wednesday morning, the tone had improved for several large-cap technology names. Apple, Amazon.com Inc, Netflix Inc and Alphabet Inc were all trading higher in premarket activity, with gains ranging from 0.64 percent to 1.87 percent.
Foot Locker Inc was one of the strongest early movers, jumping 14.8 percent after reporting third-quarter comparable sales that beat expectations. The company said its footwear unit recorded its first comparable gain in six quarters, and Nike Inc rose 1.2 percent in response.
At 7:34 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 130 points, or 0.53 percent. S&P 500 e-minis added 17 points, or 0.64 percent, while Nasdaq 100 e-minis rose 57.5 points, or 0.88 percent.
Apple shares were up 0.6 percent, though the stock remained more than 20 percent below its record closing high on Oct. 3 because of concern about weakening iPhone demand.
The Philadelphia SE semiconductor index, which has lagged the S&P 500 this year, was also set for gains. Advanced Micro Devices Inc rose 2.7 percent, Nvidia Corp gained 4.0 percent and Micron Technology Inc added 1.2 percent.
Not every industrial name participated in the recovery. Deere & Co fell 4.0 percent after quarterly earnings missed Wall Street expectations, with the company citing softer demand.
Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru
