Investing.com - U.S. futures were flat on Friday, with monthly employment numbers later in the day expected to give a clearer focus on the health of the economy.
The U.S. Department of Labor releases March’s nonfarm payrolls data at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT), with investors focusing on if the numbers will follow the direction of Thursday’s upbeat jobless claims or repeat February’s sluggish growth.
Dow futures rose 32 points or 0.1% by 6:45 AM ET (10:45 GMT), while S&P 500 futures gained 4 points or 0.2% and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures was up 15 points or 0.2%.
Meanwhile, optimism over the progress of trade talks between the U.S. and China faded slightly, after President Donald Trump indicated it would take four weeks or more to finalize an agreement. No date for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping has been confirmed.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) was among the top gainers in premarket trading, rising 0.2% on a Wall Street Journal report that ad sales on the retail giant’s website are rising and could put a significant dent in Google’s ad revenue. Details of founder Jeff Bezos' divorce settlement - which leaves him in control of the greater part of his stake in the company - have also eased fears of a possible stock overhang forming.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) recovered a modest 0.8% after an 8.2% drop on Thursday due to a steep decline in car deliveries, while Tradeweb Markets (NASDAQ:TW) rose 1.2% after surging 32.6% after its market debut.
Elsewhere, Boeing (NYSE:BA) fell 0.7% while Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) was down 1.3% after news that issues with its modems could delay Apple’s 5G iPhone plans.
In commodities, gold futures were flat at $1,295.55 a troy ounce, while crude oil inched slipped 0.2% to $61.99 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.1% to 96.882.