By Tomi Kilgore
U.S. stock futures gained ground early Friday ahead of the
government's monthly employment report, which is widely seen as the
most important economic data point of the month.
About 90 minutes ahead of the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average
futures advanced 27 points, or 0.2%, to 16845.
S&P 500 index futures rose two points, or 0.1%, to 1940 and
Nasdaq-100 futures added three points, or 0.1%, to 3779. Changes in
stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the
opening bell.
On Thursday, the Dow ran up 99 points, or 0.6%, to close at a
record high, for the seventh time in 2014, while the S&P 500
climbed 0.7% to its 17th record high this year. Despite the rally
to new highs, activity remained muted Thursday, with overall daily
volume falling short of the year-to-date average for the
14th-straight session.
At 8:30 a.m. Eastern, nonfarm payrolls for May are expected to
increase 210,000, from an original estimate of 288,000 in April,
while the unemployment rate is seen ticking up to 6.4% from April's
6.3%. Average hourly earnings are forecast to increase 0.2% on the
month.
Although Friday's payroll data have been widely anticipated,
traders said it isn't likely to provide a big boost to activity,
unless the nonfarm payroll number is far outside of
expectations.
"You've got people frozen in time," said Art Hogan, chief market
strategist at brokerage firm Wunderlich Securities. "It's difficult
to get new money to come into the market."
He said there is a wide range of expectations for nonfarm
payrolls that the market would find "acceptable," and keep the
current pace of gains intact. He doesn't believe investors will be
too disappointed unless the payroll number is below 180,000. And
with the market at record highs, it would likely take a number well
north of 250,000 to get investors excited about buying.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hogan isn't worried that too big a number could
worry investors that the Federal Reserve might increase the pace at
which it has been paring back on stimulus measures.
"Good news is actually good news now in the marketplace," Mr.
Hogan said. "There's no fear," that a strong number would
accelerating the Fed's timetable for raising rates.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked lower to 2.575%
from 2.584% late Thursday.
Gold futures eased 0.1% to $1,252.70 an ounce, while crude oil
futures tacked on 0.3% to $102.74 a barrel. The dollar edged higher
against the euro, but lost some ground against the yen.
European markets were broadly higher, extending gains seen
Thursday after the European Central Bank's announcement of stimulus
measures on Thursday. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5%, and was
headed for an eighth-straight weekly gain.
Germany's DAX 30 index gained 0.4%, France's CAC 40 added 0.5%
and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 tacked on 0.4%.
Asian markets saw weakness, with China's Shanghai Composite
shedding 0.5% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average slipping less than
0.1%.
In corporate news, Bank of America slipped 0.5% in premarket
trading, pulling back from a six-week high on Thursday, after The
Wall Street Journal reported that the banking giant was in talks to
pay at least $12 billion to settle civil probes by the Justice
Department into the alleged handling of shoddy mortgages.
Data-center equipment provider Arista Networks priced its
initial public offering late Thursday at $43 a share, above the
expected to range of $36 to $40. The stock is due to begin trading
on the New York Stock Exchange Friday under the symbol "ANET."
Hertz Global Holdings slumped 10% after the car rental company
said it would have to restate results of the past three years,
citing a material weakness in internal financial-reporting
controls. Hertz also said fiscal first-quarter results are likely
to miss analyst expectations as a result of costs associated with
the accounting review.
Write to Tomi Kilgore at tomi.kilgore@wsj.com