It’s the first Friday of the month and that means jobs day.
Investors are eagerly awaiting the latest monthly jobs report from the U.S. government, which is arguably the most influential economic report in the world and can cause major market swings depending on the numbers.
The monthly jobs report will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney project that 185,000 jobs were added last month and that the unemployment rate dipped to 7.3%.
Investors will be watching the numbers closely to better understand the current state of the American economic recovery and gain insight into whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce plans to cut back on its bond-buying program at its policy meeting later this month. Strong job numbers would give the Fed more reason to scale back its stimulus program, which essentially means less support for the recovery.
U.S. stock futures were edging slightly lower.
In corporate news, Smithfield Foods is scheduled to release quarterly results before the opening bell. The meat processor announced an agreement earlier this year to be acquired by China’s Shuanghui International, a deal now awaiting approval from the U.S. government.
U.S. stocks finished higher for a third day in a row Thursday. All three major indexes are up by more than 1% this week.
European markets were in the red in morning trading, though the declines were muted.
Asian markets ended with mixed results. Japan’s Nikkei declined by 1.5% after a week of major gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and the Shanghai Composite index each pushed higher.
