The Dow Jones futures roared back to life on Thursday, buoyed by President Trump’s assertion that a ceasefire between the United States and Iran is holding, and fueled by a surge of big-name earnings reports.
Akamai, the high-tech giant behind web security and content delivery, posted $1.14 billion in revenue, a 13% jump from last year. The company’s share price rose by 4% in pre-market trading.
Cloudflare, IREN Among Biggest Movers
Cloudflare, the cloud-based security and networking company, saw its shares gain 10% after $1.04 billion in revenue – a rise of 29% from the same period last year.
IRN Holdings, also known as IREN, an Italian renewable energy company, had its stock skyrocket by 27% after posting $2.55 million net income – triple its earnings in the same period last year.
Investors are now bracing for the this morning’s jobs report, which is expected to show a gain of 220,000 jobs in April, according to a consensus forecast from Bloomberg. If the number meets expectations, it would represent a slight slowdown from the 273,000 jobs created in March.
Despite concerns about the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China, which could weigh on earnings reports, the Dow Jones futures showed an early boost of 170 points, and a rise in futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
Stock Market Outlook
“The market’s responding positively to the apparent ceasefire in the Middle East and the earnings reports,” said Timothy Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Inverness Counsel Corp. “However, we have concerns about the potential impact on earnings from the ongoing trade tensions with China, which could temper expectations.”
Morning Brief
For now, it seems the market is focusing on the potential for a second quarter earnings rebound, with 71% of S&P 500 companies expected to report higher earnings, according to FactSet. As the markets continue to react to Thursday’s news, one thing is clear: after a rocky start to the week, it looks like the Dow Jones futures are ready to roar back to life.
