S&P 500 futures rise in overnight trade, driven by Alphabet, Microsoft: Live Update

Stock futures rose in overnight trading on Thursday as shares of big tech companies Alphabet and Microsoft rose on strong earnings.

Future on Dow Jones Industrial Average Got 60 points. S&P 500 Index Futures rose 0.9% Nasdaq 100 Index Futures rose 1.2%.

share the letter First-quarter earnings rose nearly 15% in extended trading after better-than-expected company approval of its first dividend, and a $70 billion buyback.

Microsoft Shares of the software maker rose 5% after news of fiscal third-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations.

The strength of these large-cap stocks could lift major indexes after a day of losses on Wall Street. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 375 points on Thursday. S&P 500 Index And Nasdaq Composite Index decreased by 0.5% and 0.6% respectively.

Thursday’s sell-off was triggered by new US economic data that showed a sharp slowdown in economic growth and pointed to persistent inflation. For the first quarter, gross domestic product expanded by 1.6%, the Dow Jones had forecast 2.4%. At the same time, the personal consumption price index rose 3.4% in the period, much higher than the 1.8% increase in the previous quarter.

“The Fed will be more concerned about higher-targeted inflation than slower growth in the first quarter,” said Bill Adams, chief economist at Allied Bank. But interest rate cuts won’t start until September.”

Still, the major averages are poised for gains this week. The S&P 500 is up 1.6% so far this week, on track to snap a three-week losing streak. The Nasdaq rose more than 2%, heading for its first weekly gain in five weeks. The Dow rose 0.3% for the week.

So far, about 38% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results, with nearly 80% beating earnings estimates.

Investors are awaiting further earnings reports from energy majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil before the bell on Friday.