(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Friday at the end of a volatile week marked by concerns around aggressive moves by the Federal Reserve to tame inflation and the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
Growth and technology stocks inched higher in premarket trading after taking a hit this week due to a surge in U.S. Treasury yields following the Fed’s plans to shrink its balance sheet. [US/]
Lenders JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc rose more than 0.5% each.
Still, the three main indexes looked set to end the week lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq the worst hit after comments from Fed officials raised concerns about rapid interest rate hikes causing an economic slowdown.
Meanwhile, Bank of America strategists warned in a weekly research note the macro-economic picture was deteriorating fast and could push the U.S. economy into recession.
While markets have gained significantly since the February lows hit in the wake of the Ukraine war, volatility gauges have picked up this week as a bond market rout and fresh sanctions against Russia kept investors on edge.
The European Union formally adopted its fifth package of sanctions against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, including bans on the import of coal, wood, chemicals and other products.
Big U.S. banks, which kick off the first-quarter results season next week, are expected to show a sharp decline in quarterly earnings from a year earlier, when they benefited from exceptionally strong dealmaking and trading, and funds set aside for loan losses being released.
At 07:19 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 134 points, or 0.39%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 14.25 points, or 0.32%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 45.5 points, or 0.31%.
Spirit Airlines Inc rose 1.3% after saying it will start talks with JetBlue Airways Corp on its $3.6-billion unsolicited offer. JetBlue shares rose 0.8%.
Cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike Holdings Inc gained 4.1% after getting an authorization to protect information of Department of Defense and Defense Industrial Base customers.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
