US futures pointed higher on Thursday and computer giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was a stock in focus as the tech giant saw shares rise 1.08% to US$75.50 in pre-market as City broker Canaccord upgraded the tech giant to 'buy from 'hold'.
Elsewhere, online titan Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares gained 0.67% to US$971.88 as it emerged it was testing its own delivery serrvice to rival those of FedEx and UPS, according to a news report.
Celsion Corporation (NASDAQ: CLSN) is among the top risers in pre-market New York deals, as the company added almost 5% to US$ 3.98 after slumping over 37% on Wednesday.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INO) added over 11% in pre-market deals after it saw its experimental Zika vaccine show promise in an early human trial, prompting anti-Zika immune responses in patients.
Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) was off 2.70% in pre-market, to US$100.51 after short-seller Citron Research said the online retailing software provider was overvalued, according to traders and analysts.
Activist investor lays out a bear case for Shopify @mdudas https://t.co/gDaR5CnP7D
— Greg Wester (@gwestr) 4 October 2017