US stock futures soared on Thursday, amid data that will offer new clues about the pace of recovery in the labor market.
S&P 500 futures were up 0.2%, a day after the broad market indicator was pulled down by technology stocks. Nasdaq-100 futures were up 0.3%, indicating that technology stocks may rebound. The benchmark fell almost 1.7% on Wednesday. Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.
Investor optimism has been silenced in recent days by mixed signals from different parts of the economy. Government Covid-19 relief spending and vaccine launches are helping to boost economic growth. This has led to an increase in consumer demand for products.
But there are signs that the global recovery may be delayed by an extension of Covid-19 blockages and increasing supply chain restrictions on essential products, such as vaccines and electronic chips. New stimulus checks have also raised concerns that inflation will rise sharply as the economy recovers, which has reduced appetite for both government bonds and technology stocks.
“From here, you could have flat aggregate markets. We are looking for a new narrative ”, Daniel Morris, chief market strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management. “Growth can recover, value can wait and, on the surface, nothing happens. I have modest expectations for the market until we have a sense of what the next catalyst is. “