Stock futures are flat following tech sector sell-off

U.S. stock futures were slightly lower Thursday evening as investors digested a trading day in which tech names struggled and dragged the rest of the market down with them.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.06%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.01% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.05%.

In regular trading, the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite fell 2.47% for its worst day since September. The other averages saw more modest losses. The Dow fell 0.08%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.8%.

The moves erased a rally in Wednesday’s session that followed the Fed’s announcement of a more aggressive plan to wind down its asset purchases, and that it is looking at hike rates in 2022.

As investors continued to digest the news, as well as the impact of both rising inflation and the spread of the omicron Covid variant, they appeared to be rotating from high-growth tech names to consumer staples.

“As the Federal Reserve turns more hawkish and expectations for higher interest rates rise, investors are lowering exposure to growth stocks,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group. “Typically, growth stocks exhibit a higher duration compared to value stocks because a higher proportion of their cash flows will be received in the more distant future.”

Bank stocks were among the biggest gainers of the day. Bank of America and Wells Fargo added more than 2%. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan rose more than 1%. Shares of Verizon jumped more than 4% as one of the top performers in the Dow.

Weekly jobless claims came in slightly higher than expected Thursday, and housing starts for November were stronger than economists projected after declining in the prior month.

On Friday, Darden Restaurants and Winnebago are scheduled to report quarterly earnings results before the bell.