The major U.S. index futures point to a nervous start on Friday, as investors choose to exercise restraint ahead of the non-farm payrolls report for August.
Thursday, U.S. stocks closed mixed, with the Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 Index advancing moderately, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell for the fifth straight session. The sell-off in the tech space followed the U.S. government’s move to restrict AI chip sales to China, which would have an impact on the U.S. chipmakers.
Healthcare and utility stocks led the turnaround, although energy, material, and information technology stocks came under selling pressure. Notwithstanding the recovery seen in the broader market and the blue chips, the major averages are either trading at or just off their 5-week lows.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq Composite | -0.26% | 11,785.13 | |
| S&P 500 Index | +0.30% | 3,966.85 | |
| Dow Industrials | +0.46% | 31,656.42 |
Here’s a peek into index futures trading:
| Index | Performance (+/-) | |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq 100 Futures | -0.28% | |
| S&P 500 Futures | -0.12% | |
| Dow Futures | -0.07% | |
| R2K Futures | -0.50% |
In premarket trading on Friday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was edging down 0.09% to $396.08, and the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ was moving down 0.20% to $298.79, according to Benzinga Pro data.
The spotlight of Friday’s trading session is likely to be on the labor department’s non-farm payrolls report for August. The data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists, on average, expect the economy to have added 300,000 jobs in the month, a slowdown from the 528,000 increase in July.
The unemployment rate, based on the household survey, is expected to remain unchanged at 3.5%.
Investors are also likely to focus on the year-over-year increase in average hourly earnings, which …….
