Nasdaq-100 futures rise as Meta surges on quarterly revenue beat

Futures linked to the Nasdaq-100 were higher Thursday, boosted by sharp gains from Facebook-parent Meta Platforms.

Nasdaq-100 futures gained 1.3%. S&P 500 futures jumped 0.5%. Futures connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down 43 points, or 0.1%.

Meta surged more than 19% in premarket trading after reporting a fourth-quarter beat on revenue and announcing a $40 billion stock buyback. That helped investors look past losses in the business unit overseeing the metaverse.

The moves follow a positive day for the three major indexes. The S&P 500 gained 1.05% on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq Composite closed 2% higher. Meanwhile, the Dow eked out a narrow 0.02% gain after dropping more than 500 points earlier in the day.

Wednesday’s gains came after the Federal Reserve announced a 0.25 percentage point interest rate hike was announced. That marked a pull back from the 0.5 percentage point increase at December’s meeting, bolstering investor optimism that inflation is cooling enough for the central bank to take notice. But the central bank gave no indication of an upcoming pause in rate hikes.

“Traders think the Fed is behind the curve and that inflation threat is receding rapidly,” said Jamie Dutta, market analyst at Vantage. “The Fed is open to changing its mind and may have to if the economy loses momentum.”

Investors will watch Thursday for earnings reports from household names including Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Ford Motor and Starbucks. They will also look for data on jobless claims, productivity, labor costs and factory orders.