A screen displays trading information for ride-hailing giant Didi Global on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 3, 2021.
A screen displays trading information for ride-hailing giant Didi Global on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 3, 2021. Reuters / BRENDAN MCDERMID

Wall Street futures bounced on Monday, with U.S.-listed shares of Chinese technology companies leading the gains on optimism around easing regulatory crackdowns and relaxing COVID-19 curbs in the world's second-largest economy.

Shares of Didi Global Inc surged 48.6% in premarket trading after a report that regulators were preparing as early as this week to allow the ride-hailing firm's mobile app back on domestic app stores.

Didi - which was hit by a cybersecurity investigation days after its initial public offering in June 2021 - won shareholder approval for a U.S. stock delisting last month.

Full Truck Alliance and Kanzhun Ltd, whose apps will also be restored, climbed 22.9% and 20.6%, respectively. Shares of JD.com Inc, Baidu and Alibaba Group, targets of China's crackdown on its internet sector, advanced between 5.6% and 6.2%.

The upbeat mood was also underpinned by signs of Beijing and Shanghai returning to normal life after China's biggest COVID-19 outbreak in two years.

"Expectation of a slightly more generous working environment for tech in China is lifting sentiment. It is a symbol of Beijing wanting to try and stimulate the economy," said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and market analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"However, concerns about inflation are not going away. Oil prices are climbing higher yet again and there are concerns that the Fed (Federal Reserve) will be more aggressive in its measures to try and rein in inflation because the labor market is so buoyant."

U.S. stock indexes logged weekly losses on Friday as elevated crude prices as well as a solid jobs report quashed hopes of a pause in the Fed's aggressive policy-tightening plan to cool decades-high inflation.

All eyes will be on the U.S. consumer price index report later this week for more clues on the path of future interest rate hikes. Signs that inflation remains strong could spook markets already battered by worries that a hawkish Fed could tip the economy into a recession.

Money markets are fully pricing in 50 basis point increases by the U.S. central bank next week and in July.

At 7:23 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 275 points, or 0.84%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 44.75 points, or 1.09%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 182.25 points, or 1.45%.

Market heavyweights Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms, Apple Inc rose between 1.2% and 1.4%, while Tesla Inc advanced 3.2% after a sharp drop last week.

Goldman Sachs advanced 1.1% to lead gains among the big banks.

The blue-chip Dow has fallen 9.5% so far this year, the benchmark S&P 500 has lost 13.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq has shed 23.2%, as investors scrambled to adjust to tightening financial conditions.