U.S. Stocks May See Initial Strength On Upbeat Microsoft, Meta Earnings

(RTTNews) - After recovering from an early sell-off to end the previous session mixed, stocks are likely to show a strong move to the upside in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a sharply higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 1.0 percent.

Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news from software giant Microsoft (MSFT) and Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META).

Shares of Microsoft are surging by 8.5 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported better than expected fiscal third quarter results and provided strong full-year guidance.

Meta Platforms is also seeing significant pre-market strength after reporting first quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

On the other hand, shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) may come under pressure after the chipmaker reported fiscal second quarter results that beat expectations but provided disappointing revenue guidance for the current quarter.

The positive sentiment on Wall Street may be partly offset by a report from the Labor Department showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by much more than expected in the week ended April 26th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 241,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level of 223,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 224,000 from the 222,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Not long after the start of trading, the Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its report on manufacturing activity in the month of April. The ISM's manufacturing PMI is expected to edge down to 48.0 in April after slipping to 49.0 in March, with a reading below 50 indicating contraction.

The Commerce Department is also due to release its report on construction spending in the month of March. Construction spending is expected to rise by 0.2 percent in March after climbing by 0.7 percent in February.

After pulling back sharply early in the session, stocks showed a significant recovery over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day before eventually closing mixed.

The major averages showed a strong move to the upside going into the close of trading. While the Nasdaq still ended the day down 14.98 points or 0.1 percent at 17,446.34, the S&P 500 rose 8.21 points or 0.2 percent to 5,569.06 and the Dow climbed 141.74 points or 0.4 percent to 40,669.36.

In overseas trading, Japanese and Australian stocks moved to the upside on Thursday, although most major markets in the Asia-Pacific region were closed for Labor Day. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.1 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index crept up by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, with most major European markets closed for May Day, U.K. stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Thursday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has bounced back and forth across the unchanged line and is currently down 0.1 percent

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slumping $1.17 to $57.04 a barrel after plunging $2.21 to $58.21 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after falling $14.50 to $3,319.10 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are tumbling $89.10 to $3,230 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 144.44 yen versus the 143.07 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.322 compared to yesterday's $1.1328.