Nasdaq 100 futures rose as Meta Platforms Inc. surged in aftermarket trading and China stepped up efforts to bolster its economy.  

Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 1.5% as of 7:21 a.m. in London, halting a two-day decline. S&P 500 futures gained 1.1% and Dow Jones futures added 0.5%. 

Shares of Meta Platforms jumped more than 19% in late trading after Facebook’s main social network added more users than projected. Meta has a 3% weighting in the Nasdaq 100 and a 1.1% weighting in the S&P 500.

Meta Platforms’ Facebook Returns to User Growth; Shares Soar

Index futures also got a lift from a rally in Asian shares after China’s State Council pledged to promote the growth of internet platform firms and give cash handouts to poor people who have lost their jobs.

“The release of Meta Platforms’ earnings provided some form of relief,” Jun Rong Yeap, a strategist at IG Asia Pte, wrote in a note. “For the S&P 500, the index is attempting to hold up above the 4,140 level but overall sentiment may still lean toward some cautiousness.”

Dip buyers powered the underlying S&P 500 as much as 1.6% higher before a late-session rally left it higher by just 0.2% at 4,183.96 on Wednesday. The post-market futures rally did little to soften what is shaping up to be the worst month for the S&P 500 since March 2020 as the Federal Reserve’s campaign to tamp down inflation forced investors to reprice risk assets. 

Source by: bloomberg