mbbirdy
The release of fresh data about the labor market sent stock futures climbing on Friday, with the major averages poised for a higher open. This would represent a rebound from the losses posted the day before, when another jobs report sent stocks tumbling.
The Dow (INDU) +1%, S&P 500 (SPX) +1% and Nasdaq 100 (NDX:IND) +1.1%.
The government’s monthly employment report showed that the U.S. economy added 223K jobs in December, more than economists had predicted. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.5%.
Ahead of the report, economists had anticipated that the jobs report would show that 200K jobs were added during the month. Experts also predicted that the unemployment rate would hold steady at 3.7%.
While the headline numbers continued to point to a strong labor market, potentially raising fears of further Federal Reserve rate hikes, investors viewed some of the report’s secondary statistics in a bullish light. This included signals from average hourly earnings and some downward revisions to previous months.
On Thursday, the release of the ADP’s monthly report on private-sector payrolls sent stocks lower, with each of the major averages falling more than 1%. Those stats came in higher than expected, which prompted concerns that the Fed would need to continue its hawkish policy longer than previously expected.
Moreover, Treasury yields tilted lower, as the U.S. 10 Year Treasury yield (US10Y) dropped up 2 basis points to 3.69%. At the same time the U.S. 2 Year Treasury yield (US2Y) came down by 3 basis point to 4.41%. Moreover, the dollar index (DXY) dipped by 0.1%.
In other economic news due out on Friday, investors will also receive ISM service index data and the latest factory orders data.
Among active stocks, Southwest Airlines lost ground after issuing a pre-announcement highlighting the impact of the 16,700 flight cancellations that hampered its operations over the holidays.
