US stock futures rise ahead of closely watched jobs report
New York (Oct 2) US stock futures were higher on Friday, as investors wait for the release of jobs data key to the case for a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike.
Extending earlier gains, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMZ5, +0.33% rose 53 points, or 0.3%, to 16,243, while those for the S&P 500 index ESZ5, +0.30% added 6.20 points, or 0.3%, to 1,923.50. Futures for the Nadsaq-100 index NQZ5, +0.47% saw even bigger gains, up 19.25 points, or 0.5%, to 4,206.50. Even with indicated gains, Wall Street looks set to close the week with moderate losses.
The wait is on for the nonfarm payrolls report later Friday. Forecasters polled by MarketWatch see another 200,000 job gains in September, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 5.1%, a seven-year low. August payrolls could be increased from an initial read of 173,000 jobs created. Economists expect a 0.1% rise in average hourly earnings. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
Jobless claims data released Thursday showed the number of Americans applying for benefits was at the lowest level since Richard Nixon was president.
Late Thursday, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said the central bank could raise interest rates as soon as October, should economic data continue to improve. He said the September meeting was a “very close call.”
“When you have a close decision like that, it doesn’t take a lot of information to tip the balance,” Williams said to reporters after a speech in Salt Lake City. “I would view October to be a completely live meeting.”
Markets for the week: Stocks finished mixed on Thursday, but with the big indexes barely moving. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.20% gained 0.2% to close at 1,923.82.
For the week, the Dow industrials DJIA, -0.08% is set to slip 0.3%, while the S&P 500 is eyeing a decline of about 0.45%. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.15% has had a rougher week, looking at a loss of 1.3%.
Fed speakers: A crop of speakers appear on Friday at a Boston Fed conference on macroprudential regulation. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren will give opening remarks at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, while Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester will appear on separate panels, at 9 a.m. Eastern and 11 a.m. Eastern, respectively.
Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer will speak at that same conference at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.
Stocks to watch: Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, +1.16% said Thursday that it will cut 5% of its workforce in a restructuring, with some 500 estimated to be on the chopping block at the chip maker.
Shares of FedEx Corp. FDX, +0.51% could be active after The Wall Street Journal reported the delivery company has run into some surprise hurdles over its plans to take over Dutch rival TNT Express NV TNTE, -0.22%
Shares of T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS, +0.80% could be active after millions of customers personal data information was exposed due to a data breach at credit-reporting group U.K.-based Experian PLC EXPN, -4.19%
Sprint Corp. S, +5.47% could be cutting as much as $2.5 billion in costs. In a memo sent to staff this week, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Tarek Robbiati, Sprint’s chief financial officer, said the cuts “inevitably will result in job reductions.”
Other markets: Asia had a mixed day, with the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index HSI, +3.17% jumping 3.2% and the Nikkei 225 index NIK, +0.02% flat. Chinese markets were closed for a holiday. The Europe Stoxx 600 SXXP, +1.47% surged 1.5%, while oil prices CLX5, +0.85% rose 35 cents to $45.32 a barrel. Gold GCZ5, -0.70% slipped, and the dollar DXY, +0.21% held steady.
Source: MarketWatch
