Tech stocks rebound ahead of Micron Q3 earnings results

U.S. equity futures pointed to a partial recovery for technology stocks on Wednesday after a sharp two-day selloff in semiconductors, with investors watching for Micron Technology’s earnings results after the market close.

Premarket futures showed the Nasdaq 100 climbing 0.5% and the S&P 500 edging up 0.1%, while contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 86 points, equivalent to a 0.2% decline. The Nasdaq Composite has declined 4% so far this week.

Among individual chipmakers, Micron and Sandisk — both of which had tumbled 13% on Tuesday — bounced back 4% and 3%, respectively, in premarket trade. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) recovered 4% after Tuesday’s 14% drubbing. Qualcomm, off 8% the day before, added 2.24%, and Intel clawed back more than 1% following a 6% drop.

Third-quarter results from Micron are due after the close of trading Wednesday, with FactSet consensus estimates pointing to earnings of $20.83 per share and revenue of $35.75 billion.

Tuesday’s session delivered heavy losses across the technology sector, with the S&P 500 giving up 1.44% and the Nasdaq Composite shedding 2.21%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) bore the brunt of the damage, closing the day down 7%.

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s head of market research and strategy, Dan Skelly, suggested the selloff reflected more than just positioning fatigue, telling CNBC that fundamental risks were beginning to surface. “We’ve heard about pricing wars among some of the model builders, we’ve heard about rental prices for old GPUs starting to decline, and we’ve also seen a shift in tone from Microsoft,” he said. “Microsoft [is] now talking about a change in strategic direction for lower-cost models.”

Elsewhere in markets, oil prices continued to fall. Oil’s retreat continued Wednesday, with Brent crude dipping under $76 a barrel — a day after settling at a price not seen since the Iran war began, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Trading across the Asia-Pacific region was uneven. The Kospi in South Korea surged more than 3%, partly reversing Tuesday’s 10% plunge, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.88%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng added 0.36%, and Australian shares finished the session modestly higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.24%.