Stocks May Open Roughly Flat As Traders Digest Jobs Data - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - With traders digesting the closely watched monthly jobs report, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by just 6 points.

The Labor Department recently released a report showing that U.S. employment increased 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.

The data may add to recent uncertainty about the outlook for monetary policy, although the Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting in November due to impending presidential election.

Trading on the day may also be impacted by reaction to remarks by several Fed officials, including Vice Chair Stanley Fischer, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and Kansas City Fed President Esther George.

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 slipped 9.17 points or 0.2 percent to 5,306.85.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved to the downside during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has jumped by 1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are down by 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are inching up $0.01 to $50.45 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 103.54 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 $1.1153 compared to yesterday's $1.1151.