Together with S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures, the Dow Jones rose modestly late Thursday after better-than-expected Chinese production data and ahead of the October job report.
The rally on the stock market rose on China's trade news late on Thursday, as earnings picked up from Apple stock and Facebook.
Late Thursday, all announced results were from Apple chipmakers Qorvo, Pinterest, Arista Networks, Alteryx, and Fortinet. Alibaba's results are on track at the end of the trade session.
In extended trade, Qorvo stock soared, bringing another buying opportunity and a long-term high. The inventory of Pinterest and Arista Networks plummeted with poor guidance and sales outlook.
For the software sector, software companies Alteryx stock and Fortinet stock jumped into the green territory, recouping recent losses.
Along with S&P 500 futures, DJIA futures were up 0.2 percent while the Nasdaq 100 futures also made a slight edge up at 0.3 percent.
Overnight movement in the Dow Futures, Pinterest shares and elsewhere does not directly translate into actual trade.
After the private Caixin poll showed modest growth in Chinese manufacturing output, stock futures picked up a little momentum and better than projected.
Yet share futures could change further on the October jobs report. Economists expect the employment report to reveal non-farm payrolls as small as 90,000 last month, with the now-ended General Motors strike affecting a good chunk of the job market.
The poverty level is projected to be down to 3.6 percent and average income increases of 3 percent while the ISM manufacturing index is seen to go up and running. It is predicted that the ISM index will grow to 49.
A warning on Thursday that Beijing is not confident about a long-term China trade deal, even before the trade settlement or "stage one" pact is signed, struck the current stock market rally at or near record levels.
When the stock market rally is rolling and the Fed is cutting rates, it never seems that negative China trade news is far away.
Meanwhile, analysts expect Alibaba profits to grow to $1.51 a share by 8 percent as sales increase to $16.47 billion by 33 percent.
Back in June last year, Alibaba stock had a large cup-with-handle foundation. But the handle itself operated with its own as its six-month basis, giving a buy-point of 184.23. Alibaba stock closed at 176.90 late Thursday.
However, following a slump in the second half of 2018, the relative strength line for Alibaba stock has moved sideways this year.
