U.S. stock futures rose on Friday following Thursday’s declines. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher.
Investors are eyeing crucial comments on the labor market, inflation, and the trajectory of interest rates from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell‘s speech later today at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, which began on Thursday.
The theme for the 2025 symposium is “Labor Markets in Transition: Demographics, Productivity, and Macroeconomic Policy.”
The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.34% and the two-year bond was at 3.79%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 71.3% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates for the Sept. 17 decision.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.30% |
| S&P 500 | 0.21% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.12% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.48% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose in premarket on Friday. The SPY was up 0.22% at $636.93, while the QQQ advanced 0.14% to $564.06, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From Last Session
Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with consumer discretionary, utilities, and consumer staples stocks recording the biggest losses on Thursday. However, energy and materials stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session higher as U.S. stocks settled lower.
Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) fell 4.5% on Thursday after the company reported mixed second-quarter results and raised its annual outlook. Shares of Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) also dipped around 22% following a fourth-quarter adjusted EPS miss.
Regarding economic data, U.S. initial jobless claims rose by 11,000 from the previous week to 235,000, compared to market estimates of 225,000.
U.S. existing home sales climbed by 2% from the previous month to an annualized rate of 4.01 million in July. The S&P Global services PMI fell to 55.4 in August, while the manufacturing PMI climbed to 53.3.
The Dow Jones index ended 153 points or 0.34% lower at 44,785.50, whereas the S&P 500 index fell 0.40% to 6,370.17. Nasdaq Composite declined 0.34% to 21,100.31, and the small-cap gauge, Russell 2000, gained …