U.S. stock index futures fell sharply on Friday as investors tailored their portfolios to benefit from president-elect Donald Trump’s proposed policies.
The decline on Nasdaq futures was more pronounced. Facebook (FB.O), Apple (AAPL.O), Netflix (NFLX.O) and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) were off more than 1 percent in premarket trading, indicating that Thursday’s selloff in the technology sector was likely to continue.
Investors also appeared to be cashing in on the Thursday’s rally in the Dow, which pushed the index to a record high.
Bank stocks surged to their highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis on Thursday after a Federal Reserve official said the election outcome could break policy gridlock, clearing the path to higher interest rates.
Oil prices dropped 1 percent as investor focus returned to oversupply. The dollar was flat at 98.79, after having risen everyday this week. [O/R]
Trump’s proposals include deregulation of banks and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which affects health insurers and hospitals. Higher fiscal spending is likely to benefit the industrial and defense sectors.
The central bank has sent out strong signals that it would raise interest rates at its meeting next month.
Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer is scheduled to speak on U.S. monetary policy and the global economy at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Shares of Nvidia (NVDA.O) jumped 12.6 percent after the graphic chipmaker reported its biggest quarterly revenue growth in more than six years.
Futures snapshot at 7:24 a.m. ET:
Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were down 47 points, or 0.25 percent, with 50,317 contracts changing hands.
S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 9.75 points, or 0.45 percent, with 254,787 contracts traded.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 47.75 points, or 1.01 percent, on volume of 42,790 contracts.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
