Futures higher as tech gains ground

[September 20, 2018]   By Shreyashi Sanyal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher opening on Thursday, extending a bounce since the latest blows in the U.S.-China trade spat this week on the back of a recovery for technology stocks.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq index <.IXIC>, which has gained the most of Wall Street's three big indices this year despite the trade hiccups, ended the session slightly lower on Wednesday but showed signs of a higher opening in early trade.

Among components of the FAANG group of stocks, Netflix <NFLX.O> inched up 0.1 percent in premarket trading, after ending the session lower on Wednesday. Facebook <FB.O>, Apple <AAPL.O>, Amazon.com <AMZN.O> and Google parent Alphabet <GOOGL.O> were all slightly higher.

Chipmakers Intel <INTC.O> and Micron <MU.O> rose by around 0.7 percent while one of this week's most consistently traded stocks, Advanced Micro Devices <AMD.O>, rose 1.7 percent.

After having slapped new tariffs on each other's goods this week, China now hopes that Washington will show sincerity and take steps to correct its behavior.

Shares of trade-sensitive Caterpillar <CAT.N> were up 1.1 percent, on track for a fourth straight day of gains as investors hoped for an improvement in Sino-U.S. trade rhetoric.

At 7:10 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 49 points, or 0.19 percent. S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were up 3.25 points, or 0.11 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were up 13.25 points, or 0.18 percent.
 

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., September 18, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

However, General Electric <GE.N> dropped 2.0 percent after J.P. Morgan flagged concerns over the failure of initial installations including a new gas turbine blade.

Red Hat <RHT.N> slid 6.4 percent after the Linux operating system distributor reported lower-than-expected revenue, hurt by disappointing subscription revenue, and forecasted current-quarter results below estimates.

Analysts expect data from the Labor Department to show a rise in initial jobless claims for the week ended Sept. 15, at 8:30 am E.T.

Data later from the National Association of Realtors is forecasted to show existing home sales have slightly risen in the month of August.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Patrick Graham)
 

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