4:10pm: Meta, Amazon due up
US stocks rebounded following a significant sell-off on Wall Street, marking the worst in months. Investors adjusted their expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts and geared up for a substantial wave of earnings reports from major tech giants.
The S&P 500 climbed 1.% to 4,906 points and the Dow Jones recorded an almost 1% gain to finish at 38,520. Notably, the Nasdaq, which experienced a more than 2% decline on Wednesday, spearheaded the recovery by surging 1.3% on Thursday to end the day at 15,362.
Key earnings reports from Meta, Amazon and Apple are all due up afterhours Thursday.
12:00pm: Stocks continue to rebound
Stocks in New York continued to recoup some of Wednesday's losses as investors look ahead to a trio of Big Tech earnings and Jobs Report on Friday.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% at 38,345.22, the S&P was up 0.7% at 4,880.85 and the Nasdaq was up 0.8% at 15,290.29.
After the closing bell, earnings from Meta, Apple and Amazon are due with the market hoping for a boost after Alphabet and AMD disappointed.
There was mixed news on manufacturing with two surveys released - one showing growth and another suggesting it remained in decline.
The sector saw its "strongest" improvement in January since September 2022, according to S&P Global.
The latest S&P Global manufacturing PMI rose to 50.7 points in January, from 47.9 in November and better than the FXStreet-cited consensus of 50.3.
But figurres from the Institute for Supply Management showed the sector continued to contract, albeit at a slower rate.
The ISM's manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 49.1 points in January, from 47.4 in December According to FXStreet, the figure was expected to be lower at 47.0.
9:40am: Nasdaq rallies after cooling jobs data
Stocks rallied after Wednesday's heavy falls as figures showed a cooling labour market ahead of Friday's jobs report.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2% at 38,213.45, the S&P 500 was up 0.5% at 4,867.95 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.7% at 15,274.27.
In economic news, US initial jobless claims rose at a faster pace than expected in the most recent week, numbers on Thursday showed.
According to the US Department of Labor, new jobless claims 224,000 in the week to January 27, rising from 215,000 a week prior, topping the 212,000 consensus.
Stocks on the move include Merck, up 3.4%, after it reported a jump in fourth quarter sales while Align Technology leapt 7.6% after seeing sales grow and net income nearly treble in its fourth quarter.
Still to come, earnings from Apple, Amazon and Meta after the closing bell.
6:40am: Stocks to rally after Wednesday's tumble
Stocks in New York are expected to rally following heavy losses Wednesday after the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell knocked back hopes for an interest rate cut in March.
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.1%, while those for the S&P 500 rose 0.3% and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.5%.
In a press conference which followed the decision by the Federal Open Market Committee to leave interest rates unchanged for a fourth meeting in a row, Powell said a rate reduction in March, was not the "most likely case."
"I don’t think it's likely that the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting, to identify that March is the time to do that," he said in a press conference.
James Knightley at ING Economics said the Federal Reserve "doesn't seem to be in a hurry to cut interest rates."
"We still think May is the more likely start point for policy easing rather than March, even if the arguments for earlier moves are building."
"We suspect that the Fed recognises its credibility was damaged by its 'inflation is transitory' assertion in 2021 only to have to rapidly reverse course with significant rate hikes through 2022 and 2023."
"The last thing the Fed wants to do is get it wrong again at a key turning point, loosen too soon, too quickly and reignite inflation pressures," he added.
Goldman Sachs agrees, pushing back its expectations for a first rate cut to May from March.
“We now expect the FOMC to deliver four consecutive cuts at the May, June, July, and September meetings before slowing to a quarterly pace and adding a final cut this year in December.”
Bank of America pushed back its forecast for a first rate cut to June.
Away from interest rate speculation, it is another bumper day of earnings with tech heavyweights Apple, Meta and Amazon reporting after the closing bell.
In economic data, weekly jobless claims figures will be reported ahead of the US jobs report on Friday.