Futures rebound as tech stocks rise; Oracle delivers strong quarter

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures climbed on Friday, with tech shares gaining after a pullback in the previous session, as Oracle’s solid quarter restored faith that tech-related companies are emerging stronger from the coronavirus crisis.

The cloud services company added 3.4% in premarket trading after its quarterly results beat estimates and it signaled a recovery in client spending due to higher remote working-led demand.

Peloton Interactive Inc surged 11.2% after it beat quarterly revenue estimates as the exercise bike maker recorded a surge in subscribers and increased demand for its fitness products during the pandemic.

The so-called “stay-at-home winners”, Apple Inc , Amazon.com Inc , Microsoft Corp and Netflix Inc advanced between 1.4% and 2% after selling in some of these mega-cap stocks brought Wall Street’s rally to a screeching halt last week.

The three main U.S. stock indexes were headed for a second straight weekly decline, with the Nasdaq eyeing its steepest weekly fall since March after concerns over the massive build-up in call options tied to tech names exacerbated the selloff.

Still, many investors view the slump as a healthy consolidation after a stunning five-month rally in the S&P 500 that was powered by a narrow group of heavyweight tech names.

The Nasdaq is about 9% below its record closing high, while the S&P 500 is about 7% below its peak, both logged last week.

Recent economic indicators suggest a long and difficult recovery from the pandemic, especially in the labor market. Data at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT) is expected to show U.S. consumer prices dipped in August from the prior month.

At 6:23 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 177 points, or 0.64%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 26.75 points, or 0.8% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 101.25 points, or 0.91%.

Tesla gained 3.1% as two sources said the electric-car maker is planning to export Model 3 vehicles made in China to Asian and European markets.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)