LearnTrade.ca -- U.S. stock futures edge higher with markets preparing for the release of the much-anticipated April U.S. jobs market report. Apple shares (NASDAQ:AAPL) rise in afterhours trading, bolstered by a shallower-than-expected drop in quarterly revenue at the iPhone maker. Meanwhile, Sony (NYSE:SONY) and private equity group Apollo reportedly submit a bid for Paramount Global, sending shares in the entertainment group into the green on Thursday.
1. Futures edge up
U.S. futures traded higher on Friday, as investors digested earnings from tech giant Apple and looked ahead to a fresh monthly U.S. labor market report.
By 03:37 ET (07:37 GMT), the Dow futures contract had risen 214 point or 0.6%, S&P 500 futures had gained 9 points or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had climbed by 74 points or 0.4%.
All of the main indices on Wall Street advanced on Thursday, boosted by interest rate commentary from the Federal Reserve earlier in the week that signaled a potentially dovish pivot. Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that while sticky inflation has dented chances of an imminent rate cut, it was "unlikely" that the central bank will once again hike borrowing costs.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was the best performer out of the major averages thanks in part to better-than-anticipated quarterly sales and profit from Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM). Shares in the chipmaker surged by more than 9%.
2. Apple's quarterly sales dip, but top downbeat projections
Apple's revenue fell in the opening three months of the year, but still topped analysts' downbeat projections, sending shares in the iPhone maker higher in extended hours trading on Thursday.