S&P 500 futures rose Friday as Big Tech names Alphabet and Microsoft saw shares rally on strong earnings.
Futures linked to the broad market index climbed 0.9%, and Nasdaq 100 futures popped 1.15%. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 55 points, or 0.15%.
Shares of Alphabet jumped 11% in extended trading following a better-than-expected first-quarter earnings The company also authorized its first ever dividend, as well as a $70 billion buyback.
Microsoft saw shares climb 4% after the software maker posted fiscal third-quarter results that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations.
The strength in these megacap stocks could give the major averages a boost after a losing day on Wall Street. The blue-chip Dow slid 375 points Thursday, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
Thursday’s sell-off was triggered by new U.S. economic data that showed a sharp slowdown in growth and pointed to persistent inflation. Gross domestic product expanded by 1.6% in the first quarter, compared to a Dow Jones forecast of 2.4%. Meanwhile, the personal consumption expenditures price index for the period rose at a 3.4% pace, well above the previous quarter’s 1.8% increase.
