Stock futures rose on Friday, cutting losses for the week, as August’s jobs report came in about as expected, cooling fears that a much hotter labor market would give the Federal Reserve leeway to get more aggressive with interest rate hikes.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures jumped 155 points. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.6% each.
Investors reacted positively to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report that the economy added 315,000 jobs for the month, just below the Dow Jones estimate for 318,000. The unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, two-tenths of a percentage point higher than expectations. This August report is particularly important because it’s one of the last major economic reports the Fed will weigh before it raises rates at its September meeting.
The Dow and the S&P 500 ended the day higher in the prior session to kick of September, snapping four days of losses. The Nasdaq Composite slipped, posting its first five-day losing streak since February, weighed down by falling semiconductor stocks.
All three major averages are set to end the week lower after slumping in the last days of August, on course to notch their third negative week in a row. Stocks have been weighed down by hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials signaling that interest rate hikes aren’t going away anytime soon. Now, traders are watching to see if stocks will retest the June lows, especially since September is historically a poor month for the market.
“A half a day rally right before we have a jobs number tomorrow could just be simply that people didn’t want to be as short as they were over the last couple of days,” said Brian Kelly, founder of BKCM LLC, on CNBC’s “Fast Money.”
Shares of retailer Lululemon jumped nearly 10% in premarket trading after reporting quarterly results that beat Wall Street’s expectations.
