By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S. stock futures were trading slightly higher in early APAC deals on Friday, after major benchmark indices declined during the regular session as investors nervously monitored Ukraine as fighting entered its second week, while looking ahead to key employment data set to be released later in the session.
During, Thursday's trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96.69 points or 0.29% to 33,794.67, the S&P 500 slipped 23.03 points or 0.53% to 4,363.5 and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 1.56% to 13,537.94.
Dow Jones Futures added 0.25%, S&P 500 Futures gained 0.25% and Nasdaq 100 Futures were up 0.31%.
Technology companies were weaker on Thursday, as Block Inc (NYSE:SQ) shed 8.08%, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) lost 2.73%, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) dropped 1.42%, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) lost 2.47%, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 0.2%, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dipped 0.5% and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) lost 5.33%.
EV makers declined with Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) down 4.61%, Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) falling 4.95% and Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ:LCID) declining 7.93%
Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) rose surged 9.22% after reporting earnings results in-line with market expectations and hiked its dividend, while Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) gained 11.61% after results beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Meantime, Okta Inc (NASDAQ:OKTA) lost 8.06% after reporting results, and Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW) dropped 15.37% after underwhelming results.
Heavyweight financials were mostly lower as JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) lost 0.71%, Citizens Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CFG) fell 1.01%, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) dipped 1.55%, Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) lost 3.26%, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) fell 1.88%, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) dipped 0.68% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) lost 0.88%.
In extended deals, Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) added 3.62% after quarterly results beat estimates on the top and bottom lines, reporting EPS at $8.39 versus $8.08 per share expected. The firm’s second-quarter revenue guidance also came in above expectations.
Smith & Wesson Brands Inc (NASDAQ:SWBI) retreated 16.15% as third-quarter results disappointed, with EPS at 69 cents versus 83 cents expected, with revenues coming in at $177.7 million versus $198.3 million expected.
Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) popped 9.12% after reporting a smaller-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter and issuing strong earnings guidance. Gap posted losses of 2 cents per share, versus losses of 14 cents forecast by Refinitiv analysts, while revenues came in at $4.53 billion versus an estimated $4.49 billion.
Sweetgreen Inc (NYSE:SG) also lifted 18.36% after-hours as its first quarterly report showed excellent sales growth in the fourth quarter.
On the bond markets, United States 10-Year yields were at 1.854%.
Ahead in the session, market participants will be closely monitoring the nonfarm payrolls release, with analysts expecting 440k jobs added. The NFP release is also the final monthly employment data the Federal Reserve will consider before it meets March 15 and 16, where policymakers are expected to raise interest rates in its first hike since 2018.