Here’s what we’re watching ahead of the open Friday.

  • Futures tied to the S&P 500 edged 0.4% higher, indicating that the broad market index will rebound slightly at the opening bell following its worst one-day retreat since June 18.
  • Tech heavy Nasdaq futures were pointed slightly down, declining 0.2%.
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average futures ticked up 0.7%. The blue-chips gauge ended Thursday down almost 1.1% for the week. Read our full market wrap here.
What’s Coming Up
  • The Baker Hughes oil rig count is set to be released at 1 p.m. ET.
Market Movers to Watch
  • U.S.-listed Chinese technology companies rebounded in premarket trading after tumbling for several days following a probe by Beijing into data practices. Ride-hailing firm Didi Global rose 3.8%, online grocer Pinduoduo also added 3.5% and video-sharing platform Bilibili rose 4.4%.
  • Carver Bancorp rose 37% premarket, a day after a stunning rise, when shares in one of the nation’s largest African-American-operated banks more than doubled.
  • Pfizer and BioNTech said they would ask for regulatory approval to distribute a Covid-19 booster vaccine. They are also developing an updated version of the shot designed to better protect against the Delta variant. Pfizer shares are up 0.5% premarket and BioNTech rose 3.8%.
  • Jeans label Levi Strauss advanced 4.3% after reporting earnings after hours Thursday. The company raised its full-year outlook above analysts’ projections and also increased its dividend.
  • Stamps.com, an e-commerce shipping company, soared over 60% after it agreed to be acquired by private-equity firm Thoma Bravo for $6.6 billion.
  • Tobacco company Philip Morris bid $1.2 billion for Vectura Group, a U.K.-based developer of inhaled medicines. Vectura’s shares are up over 13% in London trading.
  • Far Peak, a special-purpose acquisition company, rose 3.5% premarket after Bullish, a company planning to launch a cryptocurrency exchange, said the two will merge.
  • Cruise lines are rising. Royal Caribbean Group is up nearly 2% and Carnival added 2.1%. Looks like some investors bought the dip after both stocks lost around 8% for the week at Thursday’s close.
Employees in the production of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine at the Allergopharma plant in Germany

Employees in the production of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine at the Allergopharma plant in Germany

Photo: christian charisius/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Market Facts
  • The Dow Jones Transportation Average slid 3.3% on Thursday, the biggest daily drop in over eight months.
  • On this day in 1999, S&P 500 index closed above 1400 for the first time, less than four months after breaking through 1300. The index had doubled in less than three years.
Chart of the Day

A rally in junk bonds has pushed yields to record lows around 4.54%, according to ICE Bank of America data, while consumer prices rose 5% in May compared with a year earlier. That’s the first time on record junk-bond yields have dropped below the rate of inflation, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

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Write to anna.hirtenstein@wsj.com