U.S. Stock Futures Search for Direction Ahead of Jobs Market Data

By Scott Kanowsky

Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures were mixed on Friday, as traders mulled the release of the latest American labor market report, which is expected to factor heavily into the Federal Reserve's upcoming monetary policy path.

At 06:14 ET (10:14 GMT), Nasdaq 100 Futures edged down by 0.30%, dragged lower by a slump in chipmakers after Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) Inc posted third-quarter sales that missed estimates.

The Dow Futures contract was up 0.14%, while S&P 500 Futures fell marginally by 0.05%.

Wall Street indices previously ended a whipsaw session lower on Thursday as rising yields weighed. The yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. government debt extended the climb on Friday, and is on track for a tenth straight week of increases.

The much-anticipated U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, due out later today, will be a key focus for investors. Continued signs of strength in the jobs market may give the central bank enough space to keep raising interest rates over a longer period of time as it looks to cool red-hot inflation.

Traders are currently pricing in a nearly 73% chance that the Fed will raise rates by 75 basis points at its next meeting, according to CME's FedWatch tool. The central bank has already signaled that U.S. borrowing costs will end the year above 4%, pointing to more pressure on risk-driven assets.

Meanwhile, oil prices gained as markets eyed the release of the nonfarm payroll numbers and are on track to deliver strong weekly gains after the OPEC+ oil group agreed to deeply slash output by two million barrels per day in the coming months.

London-traded Brent Oil Futures climbed 0.96% to $95.33 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures increased by 0.90% to $89.35 per barrel. Prices have rallied for four straight sessions, recovering sharply from eight-month lows hit earlier as markets positioned for much tighter supply conditions this year.

Additionally, gold futures moved down by 0.31% to $1,715.45/oz, while EUR/USD exchanged hands at $0.9802.