Futures bounce after tech rout sends Nasdaq into correction

(Reuters) – Nasdaq futures bounced on Wednesday following a brutal sell-off in heavyweight technology stocks that sent the Nasdaq Composite index into correction territory in just three sessions.

The tech-heavy stock index .IXIC tumbled 4.1% on Tuesday, bringing total losses since Sept. 2 to 10%, with declines led by stocks such as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) after a rally dominated by the so-called “stay-at-home” winners.

Investors were also unnerved by heavy trades in tech stock call options by SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) during the run up in U.S. equities. A measure of demand for protective put options in relation to call options, used to bet on upside, has risen sharply.

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) surged 7% in premarket trading after shedding about $80 billion of its market capitalization in the previous session following its surprise exclusion from the S&P 500.

At 5:37 a.m. ET, Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 196 points, or 1.77%, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 140 points, or 0.51%, and S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 25.75 points, or 0.77%.

Wall Street’s fear gauge slipped further away from near three-month highs as stock markets also shrugged off news about AstraZeneca (AZN.L) pausing global trials of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine after an unexplained illness in a participant.

Lululemon Athletica Inc (LULU.O) dropped 4.9% after the yogawear maker forecast a drop in current-quarter adjusted profit due to higher marketing expenses.