Nasdaq futures bounce as tech selloff eases

By Shreyashi Sanyal

(Reuters) – Futures tracking the Nasdaq 100 index rose on Friday as a two-day selloff in technology-related stocks halted, while worries about rising coronavirus cases and a patchy economic recovery weighed on S&P 500 and Dow futures.

Wall Street’s three main indexes bounced earlier this week as investors bet on a loose monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, but gains petered out in the absence of firm details on the central bank’s stimulus plan.

The S&P 500 <.spx> and the Nasdaq <.ixic> have also come under pressure from investors rotating out of high-flying tech-related stocks and into industrial and transportation firms.

Of the 11 major S&P indexes, industrials <.splrci>, materials <.splrcm> and energy <.spny> have gained more than 2% so far this week, while communication services <.splrcl> and consumer discretionary <.splrcd> have posted the biggest declines.

At 6:33 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 33 points, or 0.12%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 2 points, or 0.06% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 48.5 points, or 0.44%.

Tesla Inc rose 2.1% in premarket trading after two analysts raised their price targets on the electric carmaker’s shares ahead of its highly anticipated “Battery Day” event next week.

Volatility is likely to be higher on Friday related to a quarterly expiration of U.S. stock options, stock index futures and index option contracts, known as “quadruple witching”.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)