Dow futures jump more than 300 points, boosted by Nike shares

Stock futures rose on Wednesday after earnings reports from two major bellwethers raised hopes that corporate earnings may be better than feared even with a possible recession on the horizon.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 340 points, or 1%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.8% and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.6%.

Nike shares added 12% after the apparel maker beat Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly earnings and revenue. FedEx gained 4.7% even as it fell short of revenue expectations. The package delivery giant beat consensus earnings per share estimates on per-share.

With the end of 2022 in close sight, all three major averages are on pace to post their worst yearly performance since 2008 and break a 3-year win streak. As of Tuesday’s close, the Dow was down 9.6%. For the month, it’s toppled about 5%. The S&P is down 19.82% for the year and more than 6% for December, while the Nasdaq’s plummeted 32.58% in 2022 and about 8% this month.

Wednesday’s moves followed a day of slight gains for stocks. The major indexes snapped a four-day losing streak, putting a little wind back into hopes for an end-of-year rally.

The modest gains came even after the Bank of Japan moved to widen its cap on the 10-year Japanese government bond yield, leading to a spike in the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield higher that initially rattled traders.

There are a few more big names left to report earnings before the Christmas holiday, with Micron reporting after the bell.