US Futures Higher Ahead of Jobs Report

US stock futures rose on Friday, with S&P 500 futures up 0.4%, Nasdaq 100 futures gaining 0.6%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing nearly 180 points. The move higher followed a pullback in oil prices, which helped ease inflation concerns and drove Treasury yields lower after their sharp climb earlier in the week.

Investors are also focused on the September jobs report, looking for fresh insight into the strength of the labor market and the likely path of Federal Reserve policy. Markets still anticipate one more Fed rate hike this year, but the probability of a move at the October meeting is now around 24%, with expectations increasingly shifting toward a possible hike in December.

In premarket trading, large-cap tech and growth names were broadly higher: Nvidia rose 1.2%, Apple 0.1%, Alphabet 0.5%, Microsoft 1.0%, Amazon 0.6%, Broadcom 1.2%, Meta 0.4%, and Tesla 0.8%.

Even with Friday’s advance, all three major US equity benchmarks are set to finish the week in negative territory. The S&P 500 is down 1.2% for the week, its weakest performance since August. The Dow has fallen 1.8%, while the Nasdaq is on track for a 0.8% weekly decline.