Rotation out of megacaps drags Nasdaq futures lower

[May 04, 2021]  By Shreyashi Sanyal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dipped on Tuesday as investors continued to move out of megacap growth stocks and into companies that are expected to benefit more from the reopening of economies.

Highly valued technology companies including Microsoft Corp, Alphabet Inc, Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc fell between 0.2% and 0.5% in premarket trading.

Big U.S. banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co added 0.7% and 0.4%, respectively, while planemaker Boeing Co and oil major Chevron Corp gained 0.8% each.

Copious stimulus measures, speedy vaccination drives and the Federal Reserve's accommodative policy stance have spurred a strong rebound in the U.S. economy and pushed Wall Street to record highs this year. The so-called "pandemic winners", however, have recently started to fall out of favor.

"While megacap tech companies have been a core part of the solid performance of portfolios throughout the pandemic, we think investors should be careful to avoid overallocation to this part of the market," Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, wrote in a client note.

"In an environment of accelerating growth, we continue to prefer cyclical and value sectors such as financials and energy."

A street sign, Wall Street, is seen outside New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, New York, U.S., January 3, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

At 6:36 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 22 points, or 0.06%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 3.25 points, or 0.08%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 47 points, or 0.34%.

Among other stocks, Dupont de Nemours Inc rose 0.9% after the industrial materials maker raised its full-year profit and revenue forecasts and beat first-quarter expectations.

First-quarter earnings have been largely upbeat. Average profits at S&P 500 companies are expected to have risen 46% in the quarter, compared with forecasts of a 24% growth at the start of April, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Investors also awaited important data points through the week, including the Labor Department's non-farm payrolls data, slated to be released on Friday. The report is expected to show a rise in job additions in April.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.