Nasdaq stock futures at record high as tech stocks rise

New York (Aug 24)  Futures tracking the Nasdaq 100 index hit a record high on Tuesday as technology stocks rose, while positive news around U.S. vaccination boosted shares of energy and travel-related companies.

Facebook Inc, Microsoft Corp,, Nvidia Corp, Amazon.com, Google-owner Alphabet Inc, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Tesla Inc gained between 0.1% and 0.8% in premarket trading, a day after the Nasdaq Composite index hit an all-time closing high.

The three major U.S. stock indexes ended the session sharply higher on Monday, with the benchmark S&P 500 hitting an intra-day record peak, driven by a jump in energy and industrial shares after U.S. regulators gave the first full approval for a COVID-19 vaccine.

The momentum extended on Tuesday with oil majors Chevron Corp and ExxonMobil Corp adding 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively, with shares of major Wall Street banks also edging higher.

Cruiseliners,,, rose about 1.1%, while casino operators MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts and online travel agency TripAdvisor added between 1.2% and 2.2% on hopes that increased vaccination rates in the United States would spark a stronger rebound in travel and leisure activities.

At 7:08 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 54 points, or 0.15%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 8.5 points, or 0.19%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 46 points, or 0.3%.

A surge in COVID-19 infections caused by the highly contagious Delta variant has whipsawed Wall Street this month on concerns about a slowing economic recovery from the health crisis.

Still, a strong earnings season and hopes that the Federal Reserve will maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy stance put the S&P 500 on course for its seventh straight monthly gain, with a 1.9% rise so far in August.

The Fed’s annual Jackson Hole symposium later this week will be closely watched for chair Jerome Powell’s speech, which could offer clues on the central bank’s policy-tightening timeline.

Reuters