S&P 500 slips, but losses kept in check as Nvidia climbs ahead of results
(Adds dropped percentage sign in second paragraph)
* Peloton set for best day in four months
* Oracle rises after quarterly results top estimates
* Dow, S&P 500 set for steepest weekly fall since June
* Futures up: Dow 0.29%, S&P 0.47%, Nasdaq 0.43%
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
Sept 11 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were on track
to open higher on Friday, after a pullback in the previous
session, with Oracle's solid quarterly results underscoring the
resilience of tech-related companies during the coronavirus
crisis.
The cloud services company ORCL.N added 4.5% in premarket
trading after its earnings beat estimates and it signaled a
recovery in client spending due to higher remote working-led
demand. Exercise bike maker Peloton Interactive Inc PTON.O surged
11.3% as it reported a forecast-beating quarterly revenue due to
a surge in subscribers and increased demand for its fitness
products during the pandemic. The so-called "stay-at-home winners" — Apple Inc AAPL.O ,
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and Netflix Inc
NFLX.O — rose about 1% each after selling in some of these
mega-cap stocks brought Wall Street's rally to a screeching halt
last week.
The S&P 500 and the Dow were set for their sharpest weekly
decline since June, while the Nasdaq was headed for its steepest
weekly fall since March as concerns over the massive build-up in
call options tied to tech names exacerbated the selloff.
"We are likely to see on-and-off pullback similar to what we
have seen since early-June," said Liz Ann Sonders, chief
investment strategist at Charles Schwab.
"It doesn't do much to ease some of the speculative froth
we're seeing, particularly in the options market by smaller
traders."
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 and
scores of fiscal and monetary stimulus.
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.
Economic indicators suggest a long and difficult recovery
from the pandemic, especially in the labor market. Latest data
showed U.S. consumer prices increased more than expected in
August. At 8:35 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 80 points, or
0.29%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 15.75 points, or 0.47%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 48.5 points, or 0.43%.
Tesla TSLA.O gained 2.9% as two sources said the
electric-car maker is planning to export Model 3 vehicles made
in China to Asian and European markets. Kroger Co KR.N gained 2.7% after the U.S. supermarket
chain beat quarterly same-store sales estimates, helped by a
surge in online grocery sales as customers cooked more at home
during the COVID-19 pandemic.