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Stock futures are little changed as traders await August jobs report

21 h ago

U.S. stock futures were little changed Thursday evening as traders looked ahead to August's pivotal payrolls report, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 3 points (0.01%), S&P 500 futures down 0.03%, and Nasdaq-100 futures falling 0.06%. In regular trading Thursday, the three major averages rallied: the Dow surged more than 600 points (1.2%) for its best day since Aug. 4, the S&P 500 climbed over 1%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.4%. Asian markets opened higher Friday, with South Korea's Kospi jumping 1.32%, Japan's Nikkei 225 adding 0.25%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.14%. U.S. stocks gained tailwinds as Treasury yields pulled back after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he would be "inclined" to support holding rates at the current target range of 3.5% to 3.75% at the central bank's Sept. 15-16 meeting. Traders now focus on Friday's August jobs report, the week's key market catalyst. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect 53,000 nonfarm payrolls were added last month and the unemployment rate to be 4.1%, compared to a loss of 23,000 jobs in July. "Inflation statistics next week will also be pivotal; however, ongoing decreases in employment should be enough for the central bank to start considering the labor side of its mandate when prescribing policy," said José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, eyeing the consumer price index and producer price index reports due next week. Stocks are on pace for a winning week: the S&P 500 is on track for a 0.5% advance, the Nasdaq for a 0.7% gain, and the Dow for a 0.2% jump.