Investors are gearing up for the release of the April jobs report as stock futures rose Thursday night. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 232 points, S&P 500 futures rose nearly 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced about 0.6%.
In extended trading, Apple saw a significant increase of more than 6% after announcing a $110 billion share repurchase and beating top and bottom-line expectations. Biotech company Amgen also surged 14% following better-than-expected earnings and revenue numbers. However, Cloudflare experienced a 14% drop after reporting weak revenue guidance for the full year.
Despite a positive day on Thursday, the major U.S. stock indexes are still on track to end the week in negative territory. The S&P 500 is down 0.7% for the week, the Nasdaq is down nearly 0.6%, and the Dow is down 0.04%.
Following the Federal Reserve’s meeting on Wednesday, Chair Jerome Powell indicated that rate cuts are unlikely in the short term due to elevated inflation. However, the potential for rate hikes is also low, given the strength of the labor market and the overall positive state of the economy.
All eyes will be on the April nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, with economists expecting 240,000 jobs to have been added, a slowdown from March. Average hourly wages are anticipated to have grown by 4% year over year, with the unemployment rate expected to hold steady at 3.8%.
As investors await the jobs report, the stock market remains in a state of anticipation, with hopes for positive news to drive further gains in the coming days.
