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U.S. stock futures were steady Friday as traders awaited the key nonfarm jobs report, which is expected to show a slowdown in both employment growth and pay.
What’s happening
-
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
YM00,
-0.03%
fell 1 points, or 0%, to 34430. -
Futures on the S&P 500
ES00,
+0.01%
gained 1.75 points, or 0%, to 4084. -
Futures on the Nasdaq 100
NQ00,
-0.05%
decreased 4.5 points, or 0%, to 12058.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
fell 195 points, or 0.56%, to 34395, the S&P 500
SPX,
declined 4 points, or 0.09%, to 4077, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
gained 14 points, or 0.13%, to 11482.
What’s driving markets
The Labor Department is expected by economists to report 200,000 new jobs were created in November, which would be the weakest showing in nearly two years. Average hourly pay is expected to ease to a 0.3% monthly rate.
“Today’s job report will be crucial as it should provide investors with more hints on whether the Fed can really slow the pace of future rate hikes, or not,” said Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades.
Technically, the S&P 500 is at a crucial stage, says Paban Raj Pandey, who authors the Hedgopia blog. “Momentum lies with the bulls, but the index is also getting extended, having rallied for nearly two months now,” he said.
