By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S. stock futures traded higher in early APAC deals on Friday, extending two consecutive sessions of gain amid improved risk sentiment after the Federal Reserve flagged plans to dial back pandemic-era stimulus later this year, citing a strong economic recovery, while investors proved optimistic that China Evergrande’s failure to pay its debt obligations would not pose a systemic financial risk.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 506.5 points or 0.58%, posting its best daily performance in two months. The S&P 500 gained 53.36 points or 1.21% to 4448.99, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 155.4 points or 1.04% to 15052.24.
Futures traded 0.21%, 0.25% and 0.15% higher respectively.
Among stocks, technology names closed higher, with Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) up 0.67%, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) adding 0.8% and Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) up 0.63%. Meantime, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) lost 3.92% in extended trade after reporting earnings results that came in below market expectations due to weaker demand.
In policy news, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted earlier in the week during his post-meeting statement that a tapering of its monthly bond-buying program “may soon be warranted,” but did not give a specific timeline on when it may begin moderating its purchases. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields hit 11-week highs of 1.434% following the statement.