Investing.com — U.S. stock futures rose Friday, maintaining the earlier positive tone despite the US economy adding far fewer jobs than anticipated in an October.
By 09:00 ET (13:00 GMT), the contract was up 250 points, or 0.4%, traded 33 points, or 0.6%, higher and climbed 125 points, or 0.6%.
All the major indices closed lower, with the tech-heavy slumping over 500 points, or 2.8%, in the wake of disappointing earnings from the likes of Microsoft (NASDAQ:) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:).
The broad-based also fell 1.9% and the blue chip dropped 0.9%.
All three major indexes reported a negative October, with the Dow dropping the most, falling 1.3%.
Weak payrolls report
Economic data released earlier Friday showed that the US economy added just 12,000 to in October, far fewer than the 106,000 expected and a sharp drop from the downwardly revised 223,000 in September.
The figures, however, were impacted by devastating recent hurricanes and ongoing labor actions, making it difficult to draw conclusions from this release.
The meets next week, and this release is unlikely to change expectations that policymakers will agree to cut interest rates once more, this time probably by 25 basis points.
Apple, Amazon in spotlight
Tech giants Apple (NASDAQ:) and Amazon (NASDAQ:) released quarterly results after the close of trading Thursday, and are likely to be the main corporate focus of the final trading day of the week.
IPhone-maker Apple unveiled a current-quarter revenue outlook in the low- to mid-single-digits, missing the top-end of Wall Street estimates, in a possible sign of caution ahead of the key holiday trading period.
Its stock fell over 1% premarket.
Amazon, by contrast, rose over 6% premarket after the e-commerce behemoth posted an 11% jump in overall quarterly revenues versus a year ago, outpacing Wall Street estimates, as it benefited from “once in a lifetime” opportunities from so-called generative AI.
Oil majors Exxon Mobil (NYSE:) and Chevron (NYSE:) also released results earlier Friday, and are expected to post share price gains after solid numbers and hefty share buybacks.
Crude ends week on positive note
Oil prices rose Friday, paring some of the week’s losses, on raised geopolitical tensions in the Middle East following reports that Iran was preparing a retaliatory strike on Israel.
By 09:00 ET, the contract climbed 2.3% to $74.48 per barrel, while futures (WTI) traded 2.5% higher at $71.00 per barrel.
Both contracts are on track to fall up to 2% this week, after slumping more than 6% on Monday on the reduced risk of a wider Middle East conflict.
Iran is preparing to attack Israel from Iraqi territory in the coming days, Axios reported on Thursday, citing Israeli intelligence, in response to Israel’s strike against Iran on Oct. 26.
Also impacting sentiment was the release of data in China, which showed manufacturing activity in the top oil importer swung back to growth in October, according to a private-sector survey, echoing an official report published earlier in the week.
