Stock futures were pointing to a higher open for major indexes Friday as investors digested a fresh batch of results from large technology companies and economic data that will play a big role in the Federal Reserve’s upcoming decision on interest rates.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were were each up 0.5% in recent trading, while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4%. Stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday, led by a sell-off in tech stocks after a busy few days of earnings releases.
Yesterday’s downturn pushed the major indexes into negative territory for the month of October. It was the first time since July that the Nasdaq didn’t record a monthly gain, while the S&P 500 and Dow had five-month winning streaks snapped.
The highly anticipated October jobs report released early Friday showed that U.S. employers added fewer jobs than expected last month while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%. The numbers helped reinforce the notion that the Fed will cut its benchmark lending rate at its policy meeting next week.
The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which is sensitive to expectations around interest rates, fell to around 4.23%, from about 4.31% just before the labor market data was released. The yield has been rising in recent weeks as market participants have recalibrated their thinking about how aggressive the Fed will be in cutting its benchmark lending rate in the months ahead.
Tech stocks were mostly higher in premarket trading Friday, led by Amazon (AMZN), which was up more than 7% after the company reported strong results driven by growth in its cloud and advertising businesses. Shares of Intel (INTC) were also up 7% after the beleaguered chipmaker reported revenue that topped Wall Street expectations. AI investor favorite Nvidia (NVDA) was up about 1.5%, while Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META) and Alphabet (GOOGL) were also rebounding from yesterday’s losses.
Apple (AAPL) was bucking the tech sector recovery this morning after its quarterly earnings came in shy of expectations. Apple shares were down nearly 2% in recent trading.
Outside the tech sector, shares of ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) were both up about 2% this morning after the oil majors released their quarterly results. Boeing (BA) shares were also up about 2% after the plane maker reached a tentative deal with its machinists union on a new contract, potentially ending a crippling seven-week strike.
Gold futures were up nearly 1% at around $2,770 an ounce, after rising above $2,800 earlier this week for the first time ever. Bitcoin was little changed at around $70,200.
