S&P futures dropped, trading near session lows and sliding along Europe shares and Treasury yields, as investors assessed a growth slowdown in China and dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The drop in yields helped push the Nasdaq higher with mega-cap technology stocks leading gains ahead of today’s initial unemployment claims report that will allow investors to gauge the strength of the labor market. At 7:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 189 points, or 0.54% and S&P 500 e-minis were down 141.00 points, or 0.32%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 12.5 points, or 0.08%, with FAAMG heavyweights all gaining between 0.1% and 0.4%. The dollar weakened against haven currencies and bitcoin slumped back under $32,000; the British pound rose after a Bank of England policy maker said withdrawing stimulus may be appropriate soon.

Netflix jumped 2.5% in premarket trading after announcing plans to expand into video games. It hired a former Electronic Arts Inc. and Facebook Inc. executive to lead the effort. Advanced Micro Devices rose 1.5% after Citigroup upgraded the chipmaker’s stock to “neutral” from “sell”. Other notable premarket movers include:

• American International Group (AIG) shares jump 4% after agreeing to sell a 9.9% equity stake in its life and retirement business as well as affordable-housing assets to Blackstone for $7.3 billion in cash.
• Cinedigm Corp. (CIDM) rises 21% after the entertainment company posted preliminary 4Q revenue that increased from a year ago.
• GameStop (GME) dips 6% after Netflix hired a former Electronic Arts and Facebook effort to lead its expansion into video games.

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