Wall Street set to open higher as tech stocks gain

Technology companies powered us stocks to solid gains Thursday, snapping the market's two-day losing streak.

The S&P 500 .SPX is down 2.56 percent and the Dow .DJI 3.5 percent, on track for their worst quarterly performances in more than two years. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 114.22 points, or 1.64 percent, to 7,063.44.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average ended essentially flat, down less than a tenth of a percentage point at 23 848.42, but the broader S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 2 605.00.

The rocky trading session saw stocks in and out of negative territory as they struggled to right themselves after tumbling in three of the last four trading days, leaving them with declines of two and four percent since Thursday.

US equity markets closed lower on Wednesday, as continued weakness in the technology sector weighed on the main indexes. "It's entirely possible - likely, even - consumption will recover now that the saving rate has risen a percentage point from its recent low", said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

GameStop (GME.N) shares fell 10.8 percent after the company provided disappointing full-year sales forecast.

Technology gains were led by Facebook, Intel, Alphabet and Microsoft shares.

The year started strong, but early gains evaporated as the markets entered a correction over interest rate jitters, fears of an escalating import tariff dispute between the United States and China, and a selloff in the tech sector.

The group is up 14 percent so far this year, but privacy concerns in the wake of Facebook's scandal almost two weeks back has wiped $400 billion off their value. The Nasdaq is holding to a 2.3 percent gain.

Technology stocks bounced back from losses earlier in the week and carried Wall Street to a higher close.

PVH, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, climbed $7.41, or 5.1 percent, to $151.43, while beverage maker Constellation Brands rose $7.43, or 3.4 percent, to $227.92.