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U.S. stock-index futures on Friday were drifting higher ahead of an important report on jobs that could help investors gauge the health of the labor market and the domestic economy in its 11th year of expansion. However, progress toward a partial tariff resolution between the U.S. and China remains a key point of focus for market participants, as a deadline that will see import duties increased in mid December looms.
How are major benchmarks performing?
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMZ19, +0.20% were up 75 points, or 0.3%, at 27,753, those for the S&P 500 ESZ19, +0.19% were gaining 7.80 points, or 0.3%, at 3,125.50, while Nasdaq-100 futures NQZ19, +0.30% were up 31.75 points at 8,341, a rise of 0.4%.
On Thursday, the Dow DJIA, +0.10% closed up 28.01 points, 0.1%, at 27,677.79 after trading in the red most of the day. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.15% was up 4.67 points, or 0.15%, at 3,117.43 and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.05% closed 4.03 points higher, or 0.05%, at 8,570.70.
All three indexes will still close the week lower: the Dow is on track to decline 1.3%, the S&P 500 is poised for a 0.7% skid, and the Nasdaq Composite will see a decline of 1.1%, as of Thursday’s close.
What’s driving the market?
Jobs and developments surrounding tariff negotiations are expected to be key drivers for investors to end a turbulent trading week.
Wall Street is expecting the number of new jobs created each month has tapered off to an average of 167,000 this year from more than 200,000 last year, but that’s more than enough to keep the unemployment rate at a 50-year low. Economists polled by MarketWatch predict the U.S. created 180,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a lackluster 128,000 gain in October, as employees return to work following a major General Motors Co. GM, -0.31% strike.
The jobless rate is likely to cling to 3.6%, just a tick above the postrecession low, while economists predict a 0.3% increase in hourly pay in November, leaving the increase over the past year at a decent if unspectacular 3%.
“The unemployment rate is near a fifty year low, so it is clear the jobs market is in rude health. The earnings component will be closely watched, as workers who earn more tend to spend more,” wrote David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets in a daily research report.
The nonfarm-payrolls data from the Labor Department will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
Meanwhile, U.S.-China trade talks also remain in the spotlight ahead of the Dec. 15 deadline for $156 billion in new tariffs on consumer goods to take effect. At the end a week that has seen markets react to conflicting signals on the progress of negotiations.
China’s State Council on Friday began the process of exempting some soybeans and pork imported from the U.S. from punitive tariffs, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said.
That may be taken as a positive sign for trade discussion toward a partial trade pact after the Wall Street Journal reported earlier in the week that the value of the farm goods China will buy from the U.S. is still an issue, as trade representatives in China are still pushing for a phaseout of earlier tariffs.
Also on investors’ radar is consumer sentiment data for December at 10 a.m., at the same time a reading on wholesale trade figures for October will be released and data on consumer credit is set to come out at 3 p.m.
How are other markets faring?
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.76% was virtually unchanged at 1.79%, ahead of the reading on the labor market.
West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery CLF22, +1.20% slipped 37 cents, or 0.6% to $58.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as the market is watching for a decision from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on deepening oil-output reductions.
Gold for February delivery GCG20, -0.19% was off $2.70, or 0.2%, at $1,480 an ounce on Comex.
The U.S. dollar, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.05%, rose less than 0.1% to 97.451 against a basket of a half-dozen currency peers.
European stocks were higher, with the Stoxx Europe SXXP, +0.39% headed 0.5% higher to 404.76.
In Asia overnight Friday, the Hang Seng HSI, +1.07% advanced 0.2%, the China CSI 300 000300, +0.59% rose 0.6%, while the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +0.43% closed 0.4% higher.
