U.S. stock index futures pointed to a stronger start on Thursday, boosted by results from Facebook parent Meta Platforms that weren’t as bad as anticipated as investors largely brushed off data showing a contraction in first-quarter gross domestic product.
What’s happening
- Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00, +0.24% rose 240 points, or 0.7%, to 33,466.
- S&P 500 futures ES00, +0.57% gained 53.75 points, or 1.3%, to 4,234.
- Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, +0.93% increased 217.50 points, or 1.7%, to 13,226..
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.30% rose 62 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.55% gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.50% failed to hold a bounce, ending the day with a loss of less than 0.1%.
What’s driving markets
The results from Meta Platforms FB, +12.09% weren’t well ahead of consensus, as revenue actually came in weaker than forecast, but expectations were low given the 48% decline this year in the stock. In premarket trade, Meta shares stormed 17% higher.
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said the Meta results weren’t great, but weren’t horrible either.
Meta’s better-than-forecast subscriber numbers sets the stage for two other megacap tech stock results due after the close Thursday, Amazon.com AMZN, +2.14% and Apple AAPL, +1.77%. Though the stock-market decline for Amazon hasn’t been as severe as Meta’s, its stock is just 2% above its 52-week intraday low.
In U.S. data Thursday investors were also weighing a first look at first-quarter economic growth, with gross domestic product showing a 1.4% annualized contraction after a 6.9% expansion in the final quarter of 2021. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast 1% growth, but some had warned of the potential for a negative number.
As economists had warned, the decline was mostly due to a record international trade deficit, lower government spending and declining inventories but robust consumer spending and businesses investment signaled the economy was still expanding at a steady pace.
The yen USDJPY, +1.90% meanwhile slumped to a fresh 20-decade low after the Bank of Japan didn’t alter its easy monetary policy stance.
See: Dollar domination continues, as yen slumps to two-decade low
This article was originally published by Marketwatch.com. Read the original article here.
