Stock futures rise as investors sit up for Friday’s jobs report

U.S. stock futures rose in early Friday morning trade as investors looked ahead to the December jobs report release. Strong jobs data earlier within the day led to declines in the main averages because it pointed to further rate hikes ahead.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 50 points, or 0.15%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.14% and 0.1%, respectively.

Throughout the regular session Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 339.69 points, or 1.02%. The S&P 500 declined 1.16%, while the Nasdaq Composite closed 1.47% lower. A stronger-than-expected ADP private payrolls report Thursday weighed on the main indexes.

Recession fears remained top of mind for investors as they deliberated whether the Federal Reserve could navigate a soft landing in its fight against inflation.

“I’m allowing in my pondering that we could have a recession by the top of the yr, and that recession shall be led to by Fed tightening, QT, quantitative tightening, a stronger dollar, or the worth of oil,” said Omega Family Office’s Leon Cooperman on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Additional time” on Thursday.

“And if we have now a recession, the market can have ended its decline, say, down 35% from its peak, so that provides you the low 3,000s,” Cooperman added.

Traders are anticipating the December jobs report before the bell Friday. Economists polled by the Dow Jones expect the U.S. added 200,000 jobs last month, which might mean a deceleration from gains within the prior month. A greater-than-expected report pointing to a resilient labor market could mean the Fed has further to go in its efforts to tame inflation.

Stocks are headed for losses in the primary trading week of 2023. As of Thursday’s close, the Dow is down 0.66% week up to now, headed for its fourth down week in five. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are each on pace for his or her fifth straight week of losses, down 0.82% and 1.54%, respectively.