Futures Pointing To Higher Open On Wall Street After Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a modestly higher opening on Friday, as traders digest the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report. The report said employment in the U.S. increased by less than expected in the month of September.

Analysts said the weaker than expected job growth should quell any speculation of an interest rate hike at Federal Reserve's next meeting in November, although a rate hike at the December meeting remains on the table.

After recovering from an early move to the downside, stocks turned in a lackluster performance over the course of the trading session on Thursday. The major averages spent much of the day lingering near the unchanged line before closing mixed.

While the S&P 500 inched up 1.04 points or 0.1 percent to 2,160.77, the Dow edged down 12.53 points or 0.1 percent to 18,268.50 and the Nasdaq dipped 9.17 points or 0.2 percent to 5,306.85.

Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, but significant weakness was visible among biotechnology stocks. The NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index tumbled by 3.3 percent to its lowest closing level in a month. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) led the biotech sector lower.

Gold stocks also saw notable weakness, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.9 percent. With the drop, the index fell to a four-month closing low. The weakness among gold stocks came amid a notable decrease by the price of the precious metal.

Before the trading start of trading, the Labor Department released a report unexpectedly showing a modest drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended October 1st.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 249,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 254,000. The modest decline came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 256,000.

With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting a more than four decade low in mid-April.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures for November delivery are slipping $0.07 to $50.37 a barrel after climbing $0.61 to $50.44 a barrel on Thursday. Gold futures are currently trading at $1,261.90 an ounce, up $8.90 from the previous session's close of $1,253 an ounce. On Thursday, gold rose $15.60.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 103.22 yen compared to the 103.95 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1176 compared to yesterday's $1.1151.

Asia

Asian stocks fell broadly on Friday as investors awaited the U.S. jobs report that could bolster the case for a Fed rate hike in 2016. A plunge by the British pound to a 31-year low on anxiety over a "hard Brexit" also kept investors nervous heading into the weekend.

Japanese stocks snapped a four-session winning streak, as the pound's sell-off spurred risk aversion and supported safe haven bids for the yen. The Nikkei 22 Index slipped 39.01 points or 0.23 percent to 16,860.09 but ended the week with a 2.5 percent gain. The broader Topix index closed 0.25 percent lower at 1,350.61.

Shares of Seven & I Holdings fell more than 5 percent after the retailer unveiled a restructuring plan that includes closing some department stores.

While exporters ended mixed, banks closed mostly lower on renewed concerns over Europe's banking woes. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda today urged European policymakers to act promptly to resolve the problems affecting their banking system.

Australian shares fell as investors turned wary ahead of U.S. jobs data. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 15.60 points or 0.28 percent to 5,467.40, and the broader All Ordinaries Index slid 16.30 points or 0.29 percent to 5,548.50.

Gold miners Newcrest and Regis Resources tumbled 2 percent and 4 percent, respectively as the precious metal remained on track to post its worst weekly loss since November of 2015.

The Chinese markets remained closed for the Golden Week holidays and will reopen on Monday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 100.68 points or 0.42 percent to 23,851.82 after disappointing forex reserves data from China. The country's foreign exchange reserves shrank at a faster pace to extend declines for the third consecutive month in September, central bank data showed.

Meanwhile, the offshore yuan hit its weakest level against the dollar since January despite the People's Bank of China's efforts to stabilize the currency.

Europe

European stocks have inched lower in choppy trading on Friday, as lingering worries over Italian banks and the pound's mysterious flash crash have overshadowed positive industrial output data from Germany and France.

The pound recovered some ground after briefly plunging over 6 percent in Asian trade as French President Francois Hollande called for tough Brexit negotiations.

German utility RWE fell after its renewable energy unit, Innogy, debuted on the stock market. Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd rallied after it rejected an unsolicited takeover offer of 2.4 billion euros from domestic rival NN Group.

In economic news, German industrial production recovered at a faster than expected pace in August, figures from Destatis revealed.

French industrial output also rebounded more than expected in August, while U.K. industrial production logged an unexpected drop in the month.

U.S. Economic Reports

The Labor Department released a report showing that employment in the U.S. rose by less than expected in the month of September.

The report said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 156,000 jobs in September compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 176,000 jobs.

While the job gains in August were upwardly revised to 167,000 from 151,000, the job growth in July was downwardly revised to 252,000 from 275,000.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate edged up to 5.0 percent in September from 4.9 percent in August. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.

Meanwhile, the report said average hourly employee earnings rose by 6 cents to $25.79. Compared to the same month a year ago, average hourly earnings were up by 2.6 percent.

At 10:00 am ET, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on wholesale inventories in the month of August. Inventories are expected to edge down by 0.1 percent.

Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer is scheduled to give the keynote speech at the Institute of International Finance's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. at 10:30 am ET.

Additionally, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester is due to speak at the Shadow Open Market Committee Fall Luncheon Meeting in New York at 12:45 pm ET,

Kansas City Fed President Esther George and Fed Governor Lael Brainard will also speak at the Institute of International Finance annual meetings in Washington, D.C. at 3 pm ET and 4 pm ET, respectively.

At 3 pm ET, the Fed is scheduled to release its report on consumer credit in the month of August. Economists expected credit to increase by $16.6 billion in August after climbing $17.7 billion in July.

Stocks in Focus

Total (TOT) announced the sale of its specialty chemicals' affiliate Atotech to Carlyle Group (CG) for $3.2 billion, as part of its divestment plan.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. (ASX) reported third-quarter net revenues of $2.29 billion, down 0.1 percent from a year ago. Net revenues for the ATM assembly testing and material business were $1.35 billion, an increase of 7.6 percent.

Avolon Holdings announced an agreement to acquire the aircraft leasing business of CIT Group Inc. (CIT) for $10 billion.