Tech stocks drive gains in futures

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, September 7, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Sept 9 (Reuters) – US stock index futures rose broadly on Friday, led by gains in tech and high-growth stocks, with investors awaiting key inflation data next week for clues on the pace of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments led to a choppiness in trading on Thursday, but the three major indexes were still on track to post weekly gains and snap a three-week losing streak.

The S&P 500 (.SPX) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC) are down nearly 7% and 9.6%, respectively, from their peaks hit in mid-August, as central bank officials stick to their stance of curbing decades-high inflation.

The CBOE volatility index (.VIX), a gauge of investor anxiety, remained elevated at 23 points, which is above its long term average of 20.

Meanwhile, the US dollar retreated from recent peaks after the European Central Bank’s 75-basis point rate hike on Thursday helped boost sentiment and provide some relief for global stocks and currencies.

High growth stocks Tesla (TSLA.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) firmed about 1% each in premarket trading.

Investors will now watch out for the August US inflation report due next Tuesday to gauge the likelihood of another large interest rate hike from the Fed at its policy meeting later in the month.

Traders are pricing in an 87% chance of a 75 basis point rate hike at the next meeting, up from 57% a week earlier, according to CME Group’s Fedwatch tool.

At 6:41 am ET, Dow e-minis were up 264 points, or 0.83%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 36.5 points, or 0.91%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 143.25 points, or 1.16%.

Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC.O), the blank-check company which has agreed to take former US President Donald Trump’s social media company public, rose 6.2% premarket after it said it would extend its life by three months.

Shares of Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) rose 1.6% after the company reached a tax settlement with the US IRS.

Reporting by Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva

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