Futures Pointing To Initial Jump By Tech-Heavy Nasdaq

While the Nasdaq ended the previous session modestly lower, the U.S. stock futures are pointing to another jump by the tech-heavy index on Thursday. The Nasdaq futures are up by nearly 210 points, while the Dow futures are up by 90 points.

The Nasdaq may benefit from continued bargain hunting in the tech sector, which led to the index’s biggest single-day gain since last November on Tuesday.

Prior to the spike seen on Tuesday, the Nasdaq had entered correction territory, tumbling by more than 10 percent from the record high set last month.

The markets may benefit from optimism about the impact of more fiscal stimulus after the House passed a $1.9 trillion relief package on Wednesday. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill in the coming days.

Stock futures remained positive following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell to a four-month low in the week ended March 6th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dropped to 712,000, a decrease of 42,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 754,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 725,000 from the 745,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 711,000 in the week ended November 7th.

The data adds to the positive picture of the labor market painted by last week’s much better than expected monthly jobs report.

However, the report has also led to a rebound by bond yields, with the ten-year yield climbing back to the unchanged line after seeing an early drop.

Traders have recently expressed concerns about higher yields, leading to considerable volatility on Wall Street over the past several sessions.

After ending Tuesday’s trading modestly higher amid a rally by tech stocks, the Dow showed a substantial move to the upside during trading on Wednesday. The blue chip index jumped to a new record closing high, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged slightly lower after Tuesday’s spike.

The Dow surged up 464.28 points or 1.5 percent to 32,297.02 and the S&P 500 climbed 23.37 points or 0.6 percent to 3,898.81. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq slipped 4.99 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 13,068.83.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.6 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index spiked by 2.4 percent.

The major European markets are seeing modest strength on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is just above the unchanged line, the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are jumping $1.06 to $65.50 a barrel after rising $0.43 to $64.44 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after climbing $4.90 to $1,721.80 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are advancing $5.60 to $1,727.40 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 108.56 yen versus the 108.38 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1956 compared to yesterday’s $1.1929.