U.S. stock futures were flat Friday morning after the foremost averages dropped for a fourth day, and investors looked ahead to the October jobs report for clues into the pace of future rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were little modified. The Nasdaq 100 added 0.21%.
Investors absorbed a raft of corporate earnings reports in prolonged trading. Mobile payment stock Block surged 13% after beating expectations on the highest and bottom lines in its third-quarter results. Shares of Carvana dropped greater than 9% after the corporate posted a wider-than-expected loss and missed sales expectations.
In the course of the regular session Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 146.51 points, or about 0.5%. The S&P 500 lost nearly 1.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.7%. Investors weighed the most recent 0.75 percentage point rate hike from the Fed, in addition to commentary from chair Jerome Powell that suggested a pivot may very well be further away than traders anticipated.
The October nonfarm payrolls report on Friday will give investors further clues into where the economy stands, and the way much work the central bank has ahead of it to bring down inflation. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect 205,000 jobs were added last month and predict that the unemployment rate held regular at 3.5%.
“They’re attempting to crush demand, which makes tomorrow’s jobs number extraordinarily vital, because in the event you get a very good jobs number by way of things have not deteriorated on the roles front, that basically makes a difficult job for [the central bank] that way more,” Private Advisor Group’s Guy Adami said Thursday on CNBC’s “Fast Money.”
Investors are also expecting a third-quarter report from AMC Networks before the bell Friday.
All the foremost averages are heading in the right direction to shut out the week with losses. Through Thursday, the Dow is down 2.62%, and set to finish 4 weeks of gains.
The S&P and Nasdaq are down 4.64% and 6.84%, respectively, on pace to interrupt two-week winning streaks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is on pace for its worst weekly performance since January 2022.
