Prioritising a significant U.S. jobs data, investors left stock futures mostly unchanged on Friday morning.
A 0.1% increase, or 31 points, was seen in futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 were essentially unchanged.
Release of the report is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET. In November, economists surveyed by Dow Jones anticipate 190,000 new jobs.
The job market has drawn investors’ attention, and in the week preceding Friday’s figures, a number of reports were released. While continuous claims totaled 1.861 million, initial claims for unemployment were announced on Thursday at 220,000.
“Investors are holding onto every piece of data to see if the economy can maintain this Goldilocks condition, where the labour market cools off just enough to relieve pressure on salaries without tipping the market into recession,” Homrich Berg chief investment officer Stephanie Lang said to CNBC.
“Tomorrow will be revealing to see if the November job reports can support a similar story, and [Thursday’s] continuing claims assist reinforce previous data indications of a declining but resilient labour market,” she continued.
Investors also received data earlier in the week on private payrolls, which revealed that companies added fewer positions than economists had predicted, and data on job vacancies, which revealed a dip to the lowest level since March 2021.
With the Dow down 0.4% and the S&P 500 down 0.5% this week, stocks have largely underperformed and are on course to end their five-week winning streak. Regaining positive territory for the week, the Nasdaq rose. It is currently up 0.2%, and it may record a sixth consecutive winning week if it continues to rise.
Source (CNBC)
