By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening marginally higher Friday, ahead of the key official jobs report which could cement the decision of the Federal Reserve to lift interest rates as soon as March.
At 7 AM ET (1200 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 20 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures traded 10 points, or 0.2%, higher and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 55 points, or 0.4%.
Despite these minor gains the major indices on Wall Street are on course to close the first trading week of the year lower after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s December meeting signalled the central bank is considering tightening monetary policy more quickly than previously guided.
The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 170 points, or 0.5%, on Thursday, heading for its first losing week in three. The Nasdaq Composite, an index which includes a lot of growth-sensitive stocks which would be negatively impacted by higher rates, is on course for its worst week since February 2021.
Attention is firmly focused Friday on the monthly nonfarm payrolls report, due at 8:30 AM ET (1330 GMT), particularly after Fed policymakers mentioned a "very tight" job market as well as persistent inflation as factors pointing towards early rate hikes.
Payrolls are expected to have risen by 400,000 in December, almost doubling November’s disappointing 210,000 rise, with the unemployment rate seen falling to 4.1% from 4.2%. Other items such as wage growth will also be parsed for their implications for inflation.
In corporate news, GameStop (NYSE:GME), a retail investor favorite, is likely to be in the spotlight Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the troubled video game retailer is looking to develop a marketplace for non-fungible tokens and establish cryptocurrency partnerships.
Oil prices rose Friday, fuelled by concerns over global supply, largely on the back of unrest in Kazakhstan, a member of the OPEC+ alliance that is gradually adding oil back to the market.
TCO, Kazakhstan’s biggest oil producer and a joint venture led by Chevron (NYSE:CVX) , confirmed Friday it has altered output amid unrest and protests in the country, but declined to provide further details on the size of the adjustment. President Tokayev said that order had been largely restored after the arrival of troops from the Russian-led CSTO alliance, of which Kazakhstan is a member.
By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.7% higher at $80.02 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.8% to $82.62. Both contracts were on track for gains of more than 6% in the first week of the year, with prices at their highest since late November.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,792.95/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.1304.