Early on Friday, U.S. stock futures were flat as investors awaited the much-anticipated release of September’s jobs report on Friday morning.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average-linked futures lost 7 points, or 0.02%. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fluctuated near the flat line.
The United States Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen’s Association tentatively agreed on salaries on Thursday night, ending the widely anticipated port strike. To give themselves more time for further talks, the parties have decided to extend their current contract through January.
These actions followed the main averages’ downward conclusion to the trading day on Thursday. The S&P 500 dropped 0.17%, while the 30-stock Dow dropped 184.93 points, or 0.44%. The day’s low for the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was 0.04%.
The major averages were affected on Thursday by the roughly 5% increase in U.S. oil futures. This week has seen a sharp increase in energy costs due to the Middle East’s increased tension following Iran’s missile attack on Israel.
Investors are bracing for Friday’s release of the September payrolls report, which will be the next significant driver for the market. According to a Dow Jones survey of economists, nonfarm payrolls will increase by 150,000 in September compared to 142,000 in August. The unemployment rate is anticipated to remain at 4.2%.
According to Barbara Doran, founder of BD8 Capital Partners, Friday’s jobs report will probably not influence markets unless it is worse than expected.
She stated on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Thursday afternoon, “I think the number tomorrow is important, but I don’t think it will have a big impact, and I’d also be very surprised if it’s not a good number.”
Growing geopolitical tensions have been a factor in the stock market’s erratic start to October. According to Doran, these headwinds may cause stocks to fall, ending the week in negative territory.
All three major averages are about to end a three-week winning streak. The Dow and the S&P 500 have declined 0.7% this week, and the Nasdaq is on track for a loss of 1.1% in the quarter.
