U.S. technology stocks staged a rebound on Friday as investors looked to earnings in the week ahead after a disappointing batch of results earlier this week.

The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.3 per cent in afternoon trading, clawing back the tech-heavy index’s sharp losses on Thursday following lower-than-expected sales at Netflix Inc. and an earnings miss at Tesla Inc.

The yield on the 10-year note fell three basis points, bringing its weekly losses to less than one point. American Express Co. fell 3.3 per cent after missing revenue forecasts. The yen tumbled as much as 1.4 per cent on speculation the Bank of Japan won’t make any changes to its yield curve control program. Meanwhile, Alphabet Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., and Meta Platforms Inc. are due to report next week.

Investors are braced for a volatile session on Friday, with a flood of options expiring before an out-of-cycle rebalancing in the Nasdaq 100. The index shuffle, which takes effect on Monday, is designed to reduce the dominance of megacaps and boost the presence of smaller members.

In equities, the main focus continues to be whether the rally in a handful of megacap stocks and hype over artificial intelligence has staying power. The S&P 500 has already surpassed most estimates for where it would end the year, confounding strategists convinced that 2023 would be another bad year for markets heading into recession. 

“So where we are right now, we are resting after the massive move over the course of many weeks,” Ken Mahoney, CEO of Mahoney Asset Management, wrote in a note. “A lot of stocks were creating and still are creating bases to break out higher from. No one could believe their eyes after being so conditioned to 2022’s nasty selling conditions when this market gained steam again.”

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In commodities, wheat futures fell as much as 3.6 per cent as Ukraine made preparations to continue a grain-export deal, which Russia exited this week.

Oil headed for a fourth weekly gain amid tentative signs that global markets are tightening.

Elsewhere, gold slipped against a stronger dollar on Friday, paring gains made earlier in the week.

Some of the main moves in markets: 

Stocks

• The S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent as of 1:44 p.m. New York time
• The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3 per cent
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 per cent
• The MSCI World index fell 0.6 per cent

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3 per cent
• The euro was little changed at US$1.1129
• The British pound was little changed at $1.2859
• The Japanese yen fell 1.1 per cent to 141.64 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.5 per cent to $29,893.15
• Ether rose 0.4 per cent to $1,896.3

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 3.82 per cent
• Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.47 per cent
• Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.28 per cent

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.4 per cent to $76.74 a barrel
• Gold futures fell 0.3 per cent to $2,003.90 an ounce