US STOCKS-Futures edge higher on tech rebound, Nike slumps on China pain

Futures: S&P up 0.2%, Nasdaq up 0.4%, Dow flat Dec 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Friday, as technology shares extended their rebound from a selloff earlier this week, while Nike tumbled after weak China sales weighed on its quarterly results. Nike shares (NKE.N) slumped 10.5% in premarket trading, after the sportswear giant reported a drop in gross margins for the second consecutive quarter and a decline in China sales for the sixth straight quarter. The stock weighed on Dow futures (YMcv1) , which were nearly flat by 5:56 a.m. ET. Nasdaq 100 futures (NQcv1) climbed 0.4% and S&P 500 futures (Escv1) added 0.2%. U.S. stocks jumped on Thursday, led by tech gains after chipmaker Micron Technology’s (MU.O) strong forecasts reignited optimism around AI-related shares, which had come under pressure in recent weeks over lofty valuations and funding concerns. Investors also drew comfort from data showing U.S. consumer prices rose less than expected in November, although it was partly due to a government shutdown that delayed data collection until the second half of the month, when retailers were offering holiday season discounts. Economists expect a pickup in inflation in December. Traders continued to bet on at least two 25-basis-point interest rate cuts next year from the Federal Reserve, according to LSEG data, while attaching a 24% chance of such a move in January. The Fed last week cut rates by 25 bps to the 3.50%-3.75% range, but signaled borrowing costs were unlikely to fall further in the near term as policymakers await clarity on the direction of the labor market and inflation. The University of Michigan’s final reading on consumer sentiment in December is due at 10:00 a.m. ET. Analysts warned of higher volatility on Friday due to “triple witching,” which is the quarterly, simultaneous expiration of stock options, stock index futures and stock index options contracts. Hurt by the tech selloff earlier in the week, the main U.S. stock indexes were on course for weekly losses, though Thursday’s rebound helped trim some of those declines. Parcel delivery company FedEx (FDX.N) dipped 1.8% after Chief Financial Officer John Dietrich said earnings for the current quarter would be lower than the second-quarter results, due to MD-11 grounding, costs tied to next summer’s spin-off of its freight trucking business and other items. Oracle (ORCL.N) jumped 4.7% after TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, signed binding agreements to hand control of the short video app’s U.S. operations to a group of investors, including the cloud computing giant.