Nasdaq futures drop after disappointing Amazon and Apple earnings, while Asia techs soar
Maja Hitij/Getty Images
- Nasdaq futures dropped 0.9% Friday as investors weighed disappointing Amazon and Apple earnings.
- Amazon fell 8.5% in Friday's premarket after posting an unexpected loss and a weak second-quarter outlook.
- Oil rose after Germany said it's ready to stop buying Russian oil, pointing to the possibility of a full EU embargo.
Nasdaq futures dropped Friday after Amazon posted its first loss in seven years and Apple warned of further supply chain constraints, while Chinese tech stocks soared on hopes of policy support.
Futures on the Dow Jones fell 0.3%, while those on the S&P 500 were down 0.6% as of 6:15 a.m. ET. Nasdaq futures lost 1%, suggesting a lower start to trading later in the day.
Earnings sentiment was upbeat Thursday after Facebook parent Meta posted positive first-quarter results. But disappointing reports from other tech heavyweights after the bell were weighing on investor sentiment early Friday.
Amazon slumped 8.5% premarket after it reported an unexpected quarterly loss of $7.38 a share and a weak outlook for the second quarter. Analysts on average expected the e-commerce giant to post a profit of $8.40 a share.
Investors were also assessing warnings from Apple that supply problems in the wake of China's COVID-19 shutdowns could lower its sales by up to $8 billion. The iPhone maker fell 2.4% in Friday's premarket.
Still, Apple's slide is outstripped by the post-earnings declines experienced earlier this year by Netflix and Meta, which both tumbled around 20% after revealing a drop in user numbers.
"This is testament to the resilience of the brand, and the fact that it deals in tangible products, not ephemeral internet services," Mark Crouch, analyst at eToro, said.
The drop in Nasdaq futures follows a strong close for the tech-heavy index in the previous session, lifted by a recovery in Meta's user growth and CEO Mark Zuckerberg reining in spending on the metaverse division.
Data Thursday showed US gross domestic product shrank for the first time since the early days of the pandemic, at an annualized rate of 1.4%. Economists expected 1.1% growth.
Another event that could spook the market is an update to the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, as higher inflationary pressures could mean further tightening of financial conditions, Saxo Bank's Peter Garnry said. The March core PCE price index release is due later.
Asian equities rose after China's Politburo, the Communist Party's decision-making committee, said it would step up policy to support the coronavirus-hit economy.
"We should waste no time in planning more policy tools and enhance the strength of adjustment in due course," the Politburo said Friday.
The Shanghai Composite closed 2.4% higher, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 4%. Tokyo's Nikkei added 1.8%.
The Hang Seng Tech index jumped 10% as speculation grew about a possible easing of Beijing's yearlong crackdown on internet firms. The Hang Seng Tech index jumped 10% as techs surged, with Alibaba and Meituan both up more than 15%.
In Europe, equities rose as investors digested a slate of solid corporate earnings results including from British bank Barclays, consumer giant Unilever, and French spirits group Pernod Ricard.
London's FTSE 100 edged up 0.1%. The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 added 0.8%, and Frankfurt's DAX jumped 0.9%.
Markets are closely watching the latest developments on Russia's war with Ukraine. European gas prices eased after jumping sharply Wednesday, as Russia halted shipments to Poland and Bulgaria because they refused to pay in rubles.
Crude oil prices moved higher after Germany said it's ready to stop buying Russian oil, opening the door to a European Union ban on the imports.
Brent crude futures rose 1.6% to $108.99 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate moved up 1.2% to $106.65 a barrel.
"The uptick is attributable to the increased probability of an EU oil embargo against Russia now that Germany has stopped opposing such a measure," Commerzbank's Carsten Fritsch said.
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