By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S. stock index futures were modestly lower in early APAC deals on Thursday, after major benchmark indices finished Wednesday’s session higher, amid volatile market conditions as investors assess risks to the U.S. economy fueled by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Sentiment was further lifted as Fed Chair Jerome Powell testified before Congress, saying that he remains committed to easing cost pressures through rate hikes, despite geopolitical uncertainties in Ukraine.
During Wednesday’s deals, the Dow advanced nearly 596.4 points or 1.79% to 33,891.36, the S&P 500 gained 80.26 points or 1.86% to 4,386.53, while the Nasdaq Composite added 219.56 points or 1.62% to 13752.02.
Dow Jones Futures were down 0.19%, S&P 500 Futures fell 0.25% and Nasdaq 100 Futures lost 0.23%.
Among stocks, major tech players were mostly higher as Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) gained 0.6%, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 1.78%, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) gained 2.27%, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) lifted 2.06% and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) gained 0.38% while Block Inc (NYSE:SQ) lost 1.43% and Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) declined 1.61%.
Ev makers were mixed as Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) added 1.8%, Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) shed 13.49% and Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ:LCID) lost 1.64%.
Energy companies were also higher as Crude Oil prices touched fresh 10-year highs. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) added 3.38%, Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) gained 1.72%, Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) lifted 2.95% and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) gained 1.11%.
Financials also bounced back on higher bond yields, with JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) up 2.07%, Citizens Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CFG) adding 4.41%, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) up 1.62%, Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) adding 1.66%, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) up 3.84% and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) gaining 0.86%.
In extended deals, Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW) tanked 23.12% after reporting the slowest quarterly revenue growth 2019.
Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) was up 6.46% after reporting EPS of 24 cents versus 23 cents expected, while revenue came in at $233 million versus $229 million expected.
Pure Storage Inc (NYSE:PSTG) popped 10.98% after reporting third-quarter earnings. EPS was at 22 cents versus 12 cents expected, while revenues came in at $562.7 million versus $530.6 million expected.
On the bond markets, United States 10-Year yields advanced Wednesday to 1.878%.
Investors will be looking ahead to Services PMI and ISM Services readings as well as weekly jobless claims data later in the session, ahead of tomorrow’s highly-anticipated jobs report.
On the earnings front, several retailers are set to post results later in the session, including Big Lots Inc (NYSE:BIG), Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST), Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL), Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) and Kroger Company (NYSE:KR).