By Saumya Vaishampayan
Technology stocks rallied in premarket trading, putting them on
track to push the Nasdaq Composite further into record
territory.
E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures gained 28 points, or 0.6%, to 4510,
boosted by a handful of upbeat earnings from technology
companies.
S&P 500 futures added two points, or 0.1%, to 2109, and
e-mini Dow futures rose 10 points, or 0.1%, to 17990. Changes in
stock futures don't always accurately predict moves in the stock
market after the opening bell.
"Tech is the whole story today on the upside," said Art Hogan,
chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities "That's where the
excitement is," he added.
"The Nasdaq has been outperforming this earnings season as it's
clearly less impacted by energy prices and the strong dollar," Mr.
Hogan said.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced Thursday to a record close, its
first since March 10, 2000. The tech-heavy index rose 0.4% to close
at 5056.06, surpassing its previous all-time high of 5048.62. The
Dow added 0.1% to 18058.69 and the S&P gained 0.2% to
2112.93.
The Nasdaq's gains this year have outpaced advances in the Dow
industrials and S&P 500. The Nasdaq has rallied 6.8% in 2015
through Thursday's close, while the Dow has added 1.3% and the
S&P has advanced 2.6%. Over the last 12 months, the Nasdaq has
surged 22%, more than twice the Dow's 9.4% gain.
In earnings news, Microsoft Corp. said late Thursday sales in
the third quarter ended March 31 rose nearly 6.5% from a year
earlier, boosted in part by the inclusion of sales from Nokia
Corp.'s mobile-phone business. Sales beat Wall Street's
expectations even as a strong U.S. dollar weighed. Shares rose 4.1%
premarket.
Google Inc. said its revenue took a hit from the rising dollar
in the first quarter, as the company generates more than 55% of its
revenue outside the U.S. Shares rose 3.2% premarket as better
expense control boosted profit margins.
Amazon.com Inc. swung to a first-quarter loss despite rapidly
rising sales, as it continued to spend heavily to fund a variety of
projects. Shares of the e-commerce giant rallied 12% in premarket
trading.
Starbucks Corp. said its profit and sales rose in its latest
quarter, with results roughly in line with analyst expectations.
Shares rose 4.4% premarket.
In commodity markets, crude-oil futures fell 0.5% to $57.43 a
barrel. Gold futures slipped 0.6% to $1187.30 an ounce. The yield
on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.961% from 1.945% on
Thursday. Yields rise as prices fall.
European stocks were mostly higher, with Germany's DAX adding
0.4% and France's CAC 40 up 0.2%.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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