Stock futures climbed Thursday morning after the recent market rally took a breather.
S&P 500 futures added 0.5%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.66%. Futures connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 138 points, or 0.4%.
Micron jumped more than 4% in postmarket action after beating Wall Street expectations for the first three months of its new fiscal year. The company also offered current-quarter guidance that exceeded analysts’ consensus forecasts.
The moves follow a losing day on Wall Street, during which investors took profits after recent gains. The S&P 500 dropped almost 1.5%, its worst day since September.
The Dow and Nasdaq slipped about 1.3% and 1.5%, respectively, to notch their worst sessions since October. Wednesday’s session also also snapped nine-day winning streaks for both.
Those drops mark a breather from the recent market rally. From their late October closing lows through Tuesday, the Dow and S&P 500 both jumped more than 15%. The Nasdaq Composite surged roughly 19% over the same period.
“The markets have run so strongly for so long,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management. “There’s maybe just some exhaustion in terms of buyers, and we’re starting a bit of a short-term consolidation phase.”
Investors will watch Thursday for data on jobless claims and the third-quarter gross domestic product before Friday’s reading of the personal consumption expenditures price index, which is a closely followed gauge of inflation. Traders will also monitor Nike earnings expected Thursday after the bell.
