Futures are trading higher after a wild Wednesday that saw the market rally hard on the open on the non-farm payrolls print that blew away estimates, despite a significant decline in government jobs. However, the "buy the rumor, sell the news" cliche came in fast and strong, quickly turning the rally into a big sell-off. While stocks rallied off late-morning lows, all major indices ended the day just modestly lower.
Google's parent company was one of the strongest forces lifting the market and climbed 8.7% after avoiding some of the worst-case scenarios in its antitrust case. A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a shake-up of Google's search engine but did not force a sale of its Chrome browser. Because Alphabet is one of Wall Street's most valuable companies, its stock movements carry more weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes than the typical company's.
Cybersecurity is important as data and business activities migrate online. VeriSign's services will continue to see increased demand, contributing to its revenue streams.
In the wake of the earnings call, Barclays lowered its price target on Meta to $640 from $705, while financial institutions raised their price targets collectively, reflecting investor confidence.
