U.S. Stocks May Extend Rebound On Meta, Amazon Results

Stocks showed a significant rebound from Wednesday’s sell-off on Thursday and may see further upside in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.4 percent.

The markets may benefit from a positive reaction to earnings news from Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) and online retail giant Amazon (AMZN).

Shares of Meta are spiking by 16.8 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter results, announced its first-ever quarterly dividend and authorized a $50 billion share buyback.

Amazon has also surged by 6.8 percent in pre-market trading after reporting fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

On the other hand, shares of Apple (AAPL) have slumped by 3.4 percent in pre-market trading after the tech giant better than expected fiscal first quarter earnings but provided guidance for the current quarter that hinted at weak iPhone sales.

The major index futures also gave back ground following the release of a Labor Department report showing much stronger than expected job growth in the month of January.

The report said non-farm payroll employment spiked by 353,000 jobs in January compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 180,000 jobs.

Job growth in November and December was also upwardly revised to 182,000 jobs and 333,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net upward revision of 126,000 jobs.

The much stronger than expected job growth in January partly reflected a significant increase in employment in the healthcare and social assistance sector, which jumped by 100,400 jobs.

Employment in the professional and business services and retail sectors also saw notable growth, while employment declined in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate in January came in unchanged from the previous month at 3.7…