A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Source: NYSE
US stock futures rose early Thursday morning trading after the market’s blue-chip average hit another record high during the regular session.
Futures contracts for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 142 points, or 0.44%. Those for the S&P 500 rose 0.6% while the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.11%.
The futures move came after the Dow rose 464 points to a record high on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% while the Nasdaq Composite fell slightly as the rotation away from growth stocks resumed.
Wednesday’s gains came as the House passed the $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package and sent it to President Joe Biden. While the bond market digested an auction of 10-year government bonds worth $ 38 billion with no volatility spike.
Rising interest rates in recent weeks have accelerated the move away from technology and growth stocks to more cyclical sectors like energy. Higher interest rates make profits less attractive to investors in distant years and can knock down stocks with relatively high valuations.
“The faster-than-expected acceleration in US economic growth appears to be raising inflation and longer-term interest rates,” said Gary Schlossberg of the Wells Fargo Investment Institute in a note. “The pace of these increases has been a recent concern of investors, but a rebound in interest rates and inflation is a typical occurrence at the beginning of a rebound – faster this time, in our opinion, as economic growth rebounds abnormally.”
However, this week was stronger overall for growth stocks as a rise in the Nasdaq on Tuesday pulled the index out of correction territory. The Invesco QQQ Trust, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, is up slightly this week after falling over the past three weeks.
In terms of data, investors will receive two new pieces of information on the labor market recovery on Thursday. The first number of unemployment claims for the past week will be published at 8:30 a.m. CET. The economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect 725,000 new claims. The January job posting and turnover survey will take place later this morning.