Traders work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City on August 8, 2024.
Spencer Platt |
Stock futures rose slightly on Thursday evening after investors regained some ground following this week’s wave of selling.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 41 points or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures 0.1% added, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose by 0.2%.
In after-hours trading Paramount Global rose more than 5% after the company reported adjusted earnings that beat estimates and said it would cut 15% of its U.S. workforce. Fairy Beauty fell by about 10.9% after the publication of cautious forecasts.
Stocks rebounded in regular trading on Thursday after falling sharply earlier in the week, as the latest weekly unemployment figures helped ease investor concerns about the strength of the labor market and the state of the U.S. economy.
The S&P 500 rose 2.3% through Thursday, its best session since November 2022, while the 30 stocks Dow rose by around 683 points or almost 1.8 percent. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose by 2.87 percent.
Investors are trying to revive the market’s momentum this year after a sharp global sell-off on Monday, sparked by disappointing US jobs data last Friday, concerns about the timing of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut and the unwinding of Japanese yen carry trades.
Investors seem to have bought the dip, viewing the decline as a fairly healthy correction.
“The fundamental backdrop remains favorable for equity upside, particularly for investors with investment horizons through year-end and beyond,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management. “In the near term, elevated levels of volatility are likely to be the rule rather than the exception, as broader market valuations remain elevated and seasonality trends suggest subdued returns during the ‘dog days of summer.'”
Although the major indexes rose sharply on Thursday, they remain down on a weekly basis. The S&P 500 lost 0.5 percent this week, while the Nasdaq and Dow fell by about 0.7 percent. Both the broad-based S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are on track for their fourth week of losses.
