US pre-open: Stocks seen higher after Thursday's tech selloff

US futures pointed to a positive open on Wall Street on Friday, with stocks expected to rebound following weakness in the technology sector a day earlier.

At 1140 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.2%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were 0.3% higher.

Meanwhile, oil prices were in the black ahead of the Baker Hughes oil rig count at 1800 BST. West Texas Intermediate was up 0.8% to $45.28 a barrel and Brent crude was 0.5% firmer at $47.66.

David Morrison, senior market strategist at SpreadCo, said: "US stock index futures are all heading higher in early trade this morning. This represents something of a recovery after another tech-led selloff yesterday and suggests that investors are keen to end the quarter on a positive note. However, there’s still a slight edge to today’s trade as investors consider the recent pull-back in US stocks which came despite positive results from the latest Federal Reserve banking stress tests. It’s worth noting that the major US indices bounced off their lows late last night, although at one stage the sell-off started to look disorderly.

"The big question now is whether we can expect more of a pull-back over the summer, or if the worst is already over. The optimists believe that recent moves are little more than sector rotation as investors book profits on their favourite tech stocks and reinvest the proceeds in other sectors. But the bears believe that the market is just starting to adjust to the prospect of tighter monetary policy."

On the data front, core personal consumption expenditure is at 1330 BST, while the Chicago purchasing managers' index is at 1445 BST and Michigan consumer sentiment is at 1500 BST.

Morrison pointed out that the PCE price index is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure.

"If this indicates a continued downtrend in inflation, then investors will wind down their expectations for future rate rises. Yet recent comments from Fed members suggest that the US central bank is prepared to look past weak inflation data and continue to tighten monetary policy over the rest of the year."

In corporate news, Nike shares surged in pre-market trade after it reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales late on Thursday and confirmed a deal to sell shoes trough Amazon.