A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
NYSE
Stock futures rose on Friday as traders interpreted an unexpected loss in jobs in July as meaning the Federal Reserve won’t need to raise interest rates soon and can leave monetary policy on hold for now.
Nasdaq-100 futures led gains, climbing 1.2%, and S&P 500 futures advanced 0.5%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 160 points, or 0.3%.
July’s nonfarm payrolls report showed a drop of 23,000 jobs, while economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast a gain of 83,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% as the labor force participation rate fell to its lowest level in more than five years. Economists had expected it to remain unchanged at 4.2%.
A majority of fed funds futures traders now expect that the central bank will hold its benchmark lending rate at the current 3.50% to 3.75% at the next policy meeting in September, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Just a day ago, traders were pricing in a 55% chance of a quarter-point hike.
“For the job market this is a number that’s not booming and may actually be breaking, but for the markets the two biggest areas of concern were yields and inflation” Saira Malik, Nuveen chief investment officer, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “This lower number helps not reinforce the Fed’s narrative that they need to raise interest rates.”
Software stocks led equity futures higher Friday, with Cloudflare surging 16% in premarket after the cloud cybersecurity company issued a solid full-year and current-quarter outlook. Shares of Atlassian jumped 34% after the company’s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue surpassed expectations and issued upbeat guidance.
Airbnb shares also rallied 7% in premarket trading after the vacation rental company posted a beat on the top and bottom lines.
Oil prices, meanwhile, ticked lower on Friday as investors awaited a potential deal from the U.S. and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had told CNBC earlier in the week that the two sides could reach a deal soon.
West Texas Intermediate futures for September delivery were off 0.6%, trading at $76.85 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped 0.7% to $81.90.
Wall Street is coming off a losing session, as an increase in oil prices weighed on equities. The Dow fell more than 460 points, or 0.9%, breaking a five-day winning run. The S&P 500 slid 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.1%.
Stocks are still headed for a second straight week of gains. The Nasdaq could post its best weekly performance since May, thanks to a bounce-back in chip stocks. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) is higher by more than 5% this week.