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U.S. stock futures traded mostly unchanged on Friday on the heels of a record-setting session as investors awaited jobs data, which could shed light on whether the economy is overheating or slowing amid resurgent COVID-19 cases.
What’s happening?
-
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YM00,
+0.05%
rose 24 points to 34,967; -
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
+0.03%
added 1.4 points to 4,423; -
Nasdaq-100 futures
NQ00,
-0.09%
slipped 16 points to 15,151.
On Thursday, the Dow industrials
DJIA,
rose 271.58 points, or 0.78%, to finish at 35,064.25. The S&P 500
SPX,
gained 26.44 points, or 0.6%, to close at 4,429.10 and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
advanced 114.58 points, or 0.8%, to end at 14,895.12, both setting fresh closing records.
Opinion: The S&P 500 looks strong — but these ‘internals’ are far less positive
What’s driving markets?
Investors have been waiting all week for July nonfarm payrolls data, which comes as the S&P 500 has now logged 43 record closes this year.
The economy likely added an estimated 845,000 new jobs, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of economists shows. That gain would almost equal what was seen in June. The unemployment rate is expected to drop to 5.7% from 5.9%.
“There has been plenty of speculation about the importance of today’s jobs report in terms of the timing of a possible tapering of asset purchases, as well as when to expect a possible rate hike, whether it be early 2023, or late 2022,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a note to clients.
“The reality is, whatever today’s number is, the picture is unlikely to be any clearer after the numbers drop, than it is now, which means this month’s Jackson Hole symposium probably won’t offer investors the steer on monetary policy they hope it will,” said Hewson. “This is because no-one on the FOMC really has any idea what the U.S. economy will look like a month from now, let alone a year from now.”
The spread of the delta variant of COVID-19 has also made forecasting a little tricky. Many businesses have been struggling with back-to-work plans due to the fast spread of the delta variant, which has been hitting the U.S. and other countries world-wide.
Other data on tap includes wholesale inventories and consumer credit.
What stocks are in focus?
-
Groupon shares
GRPN,
-0.59%
were surging 15% in premarket trading after the deals platform easily beat earnings forecasts. -
Yelp
YELP,
+3.53%
shares jumped 11% after the online reviews site reported a surprise profit and a lift to its annual guidance. -
Zynga
ZNGA,
-1.31%
stock was down 15% as the videogame publisher’s outlook overshadowed results that topped Wall Street estimates. -
Novavax
NVAX,
+5.54%
shares slid 11% as the biotech reported a wider-than-expected loss on the quarter, and said it push back submitting its COVID-19 vaccine to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization until the fourth quarter.
