Oct 18 (Reuters) - Wall Street futures inched higher on Friday, led by gains in those tracking the Nasdaq 100 as technology shares broadly advanced, while Netflix soared following strong quarterly results.
Shares of Netflix (NFLX.O), gained 6.5% in premarket trading after the streaming giant topped Wall Street estimates for subscriber additions and said it expected continued growth through the end of the year.
Most of the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks, which have driven much of Wall Street's rally this year, were higher in premarket trading, with Apple (AAPL.O), up 1.5% after data showed a jump in new iPhone sales in China.
Chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA.O), was up 0.9%, extending gains from Thursday following strong results from contract chipmaker TSMC (2330.TW), opens new tab, which lifted semiconductor stocks.
However, Tesla (TSLA.O), lost 0.5% after the U.S. auto safety regulator said it has opened a probe into the EV-maker's self-driving software after reports of four collisions, including one fatal crash.
Dow E-minis were up 37 points, or 0.09%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 10 points, or 0.17%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 76.5 points, or 0.38%.
Upbeat earnings from financial companies and broadly positive economic data have lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to fresh record highs this week. The Dow closed at a record high on Thursday, while the S&P 500 is nearing the psychologically important 6,000 mark.
All three major indexes were set to log their sixth consecutive week of gains, although the Russell 2000 (.RUT), is set to outperform with a roughly 2% rise. Futures tracking the small-cap index were up 0.4%.
At the same time, Treasury yields inched higher, with the benchmark 10-year note yield back above 4.1%, which could further pressure equities.
Stretched valuations - the S&P 500 is trading at nearly 22 times forward earnings - and high expectations for corporate results could also leave stocks vulnerable to a pullback amid indications that investors are exploring less expensive market sectors.
"We anticipate further broadening of equity-market performance now that rate cutting is underway, but larger companies are both fully valued and less sensitive to rate changes, which leads us to continue to favor higher quality small and medium-sized companies," Neuberger Berman portfolio managers said.
Procter & Gamble (PG.N), was little changed after missing first-quarter sales expectations, while oil giant SLB (SLB.N), added 1% after beating quarterly profit estimates.
American Express (AXP.N), climbed 2.4% after its quarterly profit beat estimates.
September housing starts are on the data docket, while Fed officials Christopher Waller, Neel Kashkari and Raphael Bostic are slated to speak during the day.
Expectations for the U.S. Federal Reserve to ease interest rates by 25 basis points at its November meeting have remained fairly steady throughout the week, currently standing at 92.1%, according to CME's FedWatch.
Meanwhile, U.S. listings of Chinese companies leapt after the domestic central bank launched funding schemes aimed at boosting the equity market. Alibaba gained 2.9%, JD.com rose 5.5% and PDD Holdings (PDD.O), jumped 4.7%.
CVS Health (CVS.N), slipped 11.3% after a report said it had named long-time executive David Joyner its new top boss.
Reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
