US pre-open: Futures trade higher ahead of September jobs report

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Friday as market participants patiently awaited the release of September's nonfarm payrolls report. As of 1200 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.07%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.23% and 0.35% higher, respectively.

The Dow closed 184.93 points lower on Thursday amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following Israel's ground invasion of Lebannon and Iran's resulting airstrike.

Friday's primary focus will be on last month's nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate figures at 1330 BST, with economists expecting to see payrolls drop from 142,000 to 140,000 and the unemployment rate hold steady at 4.2%.

Scope Markets' Joshua Mahony said: "The trajectory of the US economy remains a key component of market sentiment, as the continued improvements being highlighted in the lead-up to today's US jobs report help ease concerns around a potential burgeoning recession. A resurgence in Crude oil has hampered sentiment this week, with the prospect of an inflationary surge dampening the prospect for easing next year.

"The US jobs report provides today's main event, with traders looking out for a degree of stability after recent speculation that a surge in unemployment could form the basis of an impending US recession. Nonetheless, with markets expecting to see unemployment remain at 4.2%, and a marginally improved payrolls figure of 147k, those recession fears appear to be waning considerably."

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com