Good morning. It’s going to be a busy day.
Here are the six things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:
1. Insights into employment: The monthly U.S. jobs report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Economists estimate the nation added 190,000 new jobs last month, which would be better than January’s gains of 151,000 jobs, and confirmation that the labor market is gaining momentum.
Economists also predict unemployment will remain at 4.9%, the lowest level since 2008.
Traders will be watching these numbers closely as they will influence the Federal Reserve’s thinking on whether to raise interest rates over the next few months.
2. Takeover time: Movie theater chain AMC Theaters is set to become the biggest in the world after it announced it would acquire Carmike Cinemas for $1.1 billion. AMC is controlled by Dalian Wanda Group, which is owned by China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin.
A second deal was announced overnight: travel bag maker Samsonite is buying its upscale American rival Tumi in a deal worth around $1.8 billion.
3. Potential market movers — Intuit, Chesapeake, H&R Block, HP Enterprise: Shares in Intuit could see higher-than-normal trading volumes after the company announced it would sell Quicken, which makes personal finance software, in a management buyout backed by a private equity firm.
Shares in Chesapeake Energy are shooting higher premarket, following a 26% surge on Thursday. The company has been embroiled in legal troubles for a while. It was in the spotlight this week after its former CEO died in a car crash immediately after he was indicted by a grand jury for conspiring to rig the price of oil and natural gas leases.
H&R Block stock is sinking in extended trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings.
On the flip side, Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares are rising after beating earnings expectations. HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise split into two different companies in November.
4. Earnings: Investors are expecting a handful of companies to report quarterly results ahead of the opening bell, including Staples and Big Lots.
5. Global markets overview: Traders are holding back on making any big bets ahead of the U.S. jobs report. Stock futures in New York are steady. European markets aren’t making any major moves in early trading, while most Asian markets ended the week with gains.
6. Weekly market recap: If you ignore Monday, it has been a very positive week for stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all rallied starting on Tuesday and notched four consecutive days of trading gains.
