U.S. stock futures were fluctuating on Friday following Thursday’s positive moves. Futures of major benchmark indices were mixed.
Investors and economists are bracing for another weak print in Friday’s non-farm payrolls report, with the consensus looking for just 75,000 new jobs in August.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.16% and the two-year bond was at 3.59%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 99.4% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates for the Sept. 17 decision.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | -0.02% |
| S&P 500 | 0.22% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.48% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.14% |
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 $650.56, while the QQQ advanced 0.53% to $578.28, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From Last Session
Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed positively, with industrials, communication services, and consumer discretionary stocks posting the biggest gains on Thursday. However, utilities stocks bucked the market trend, ending the session lower.
This broad rally was driven by signs of a cooling labor market in August, cementing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its Sept. 17 meeting.
Meanwhile, Science Applications International Corp. (NASDAQ:SAIC) stock dropped 6% after its second-quarter 2026 earnings report.
Economic reports bolstered the case for a rate cut. The ADP National Employment Report revealed only 54,000 jobs were added in August, a steep fall from 106,000 in July and below the 65,000 median forecast.
U.S. initial jobless claims for the last week of August also rose by 8,000 to 237,000, surpassing expectations of 230,000.
In other news, the ISM services PMI increased to 52 in August from 50.1 in July, and the U.S. trade deficit grew to $78.3 billion in July from a revised $59.1 billion.
The Dow Jones index ended 350 points or 0.77% higher at 45,621.29, whereas the S&P 500 index rose 0.83% to 6,502.08. Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.98% to 21,707.69, and …