Stock futures rallied early Friday, amid growing optimism over the U.S. economic recovery following strong labor market data.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average pointed to an opening gain of about 200 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures also traded in positive territory.
Salesforce shares gained roughly 4.6% in extended trading Thursday after the software company’s first-quarter earnings beat Wall Street expectations on its top and bottom lines. HP shares plunged almost 6% despite the company’s better-than-expected second-quarter results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 141.59 points in Wednesday regular trading, while the S&P 500 edged 0.1% higher. The Nasdaq Composite closed flat.
Shares of Boeing gained nearly 4% amid optimism about the recovery economy. First-time jobless claims fell to a new pandemic low of 406,000, according to Labor Department data.
“Two macro factors may be contributing to the increased confidence in the recovery today: signs of higher inflation and signs of better job placement,” Goldman Sachs managing director Chris Hussey said in a note.
Meme stocks fueled by traders in Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum surged on Thursday, with AMC shooting up as much as 47%. Shares of the movie-theater chain closed 35.6% higher while another meme stock, GameStop, gained 4.8%.
The major indexes are on track to close higher this week. The S&P 500 is up 1.08% week to date. The blue-chip Dow is 0.75% higher over the same time period, while the Nasdaq has gained nearly 2%.
The moves higher this week come as investors monitor the back-and-forth in Washington over a comprehensive infrastructure package that could further boost the economic recovery. Senate Republicans unveiled a $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer to President Joe Biden on Thursday. However, that’s well below Biden’s most recent proposal of $1.7 trillion.
