Oct 18 (Reuters) - Futures pointed to a higher open for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on Friday as technology shares broadly advanced and investors parsed corporate results, while Netflix jumped after beating subscriber growth estimates.
Shares of Netflix (NFLX.O), gained 6.4% 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 2% after data showed a jump in new iPhone sales in China.
Chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA.O), rose 1.2%, extending gains from Thursday following strong results from contract chipmaker TSMC (2330.TW), opens new tab, which lifted semiconductor stocks.
Dow E-minis were down 55 points, or 0.13%, U.S. S&P 500 E-minis were up 14 points, or 0.24%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 112.5 points, or 0.55%.
Mostly 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.
"The financials have responded very well to earnings. They were the first real big (sector) to report and they performed rather well. Now the attention is shifting and it's going to be on tech and other big blue-chip companies," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive at 50 Park Investments.
"Until we see stocks really get walloped or fall hard on earnings, the market's earned the bullish benefit of the doubt."
However, stretched valuations - with the S&P 500 trading at nearly 22 times forward earnings - and high expectations for corporate results could leave stocks vulnerable to a pullback, amid indications that investors are exploring less expensive sectors.
The small-cap Russell 2000 (.RUT), is set to outperform major indexes in the week with a roughly 2% rise. Futures tracking the index were up 0.3%.
American Express (AXP.N), lost 2.7% after its quarterly revenue missed estimates.
Procter & Gamble (PG.N), edged 0.4% lower after it missed first-quarter sales expectations, while oil giant SLB (SLB.N), dipped 1% after missing third-quarter revenue estimates.
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 90%, according to CME's FedWatch.
In economic data, single-family housing starts increased 2.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.027 million units in September.
Meanwhile, U.S. listings of Chinese companies leapt after China's central bank launched funding schemes aimed at boosting the equity market. Alibaba gained 3%, JD.com rose 5.3% and PDD Holdings (PDD.O), jumped 4.1%.
CVS Health (CVS.N), slumped 9.8% 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
