United States equity futures moved higher in overnight trading Thursday (Friday AEST) after Wall Street staged a strong rebound, with upbeat results from Amazon adding to investor optimism around technology stocks.
By 10:30 am AEST (12:30 am GMT) Dow futures and S&P 500 futures had gained 0.3% apiece, and Nasdaq futures were up 0.8%.
Amazon shares surged 9.2% in extended trading after the company reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter revenue and cloud growth. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at US$5.75, well above expectations of US$1.82, while revenue reached US$200.61 billion, exceeding forecasts of US$197.03 billion.
Apple shares fell 5.7% after hours as investors assessed its latest earnings report. The technology giant reported EPS of US$2.02 compared with expectations of US$1.89, while revenue came in at US$109.42 billion, slightly above estimates of US$109.04 billion.
Reddit shares dropped 10.3% after CEO Steve Huffman said search referrals were “choppy” during the quarter. The social media company nevertheless exceeded expectations on both earnings and revenue, reporting EPS of US$1.25 against forecasts of US$0.95 and revenue of US$804.9 million versus estimates of US$731 million. Reddit also issued guidance above market expectations.
The after-hours moves followed a powerful rally during Thursday's regular session, led by Microsoft, which jumped 15.5% after the software giant reported stronger-than-expected Azure cloud growth.
The results sparked broad gains across artificial intelligence-linked semiconductor companies, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.2%, the S&P 500 climbing 1.7% and the Nasdaq Composite surging 2.8%.
Despite heightened volatility throughout the week, major indexes remained on track for weekly gains.
Ahead of Friday's session, the Dow was up around 0.5% for the week, while the S&P 500 had gained approximately 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite was higher by about 0.6%.
