Wall Street may start Friday's session on a nervous note, as has been characteristic of a session coinciding with the day of the release of the non-farm payrolls report. Nevertheless, the index futures suggest a firm opening. The recent economic optimism has a lot to do with the upturn we have been seeing in some labor market indicators, and incremental evidence fortifying deduction of strength in the labor market may augur well for the markets.
As of 6:30 am ET, the Dow futures are adding 22 points and the S&P 500 futures are moving up 2.60 points, while the Nasdaq 100 futures are climbing 8.50 points.
U.S. stocks moved about in a listless manner on Thursday before closing on a mixed, as caution prevailed ahead of Friday's jobs report. Traders reacted to mixed catalysts, including a positive jobless claims report and some mixed corporate earnings.
On the economic front, the Labor Department is set to release the monthly non-farm payrolls report at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect non-farm payrolls for January to increase by 135,000, but they expect the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 8.5 percent. In December, about 200,000 new jobs were added and the unemployment rate ticked down to 8.5 percent.
The Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release the results of its non-manufacturing survey at 10 am ET. The non-manufacturing index is likely to show a reading of 53.3 for January after rising to 52.6 in December.
Additionally, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on factory goods orders for December at 10 am ET. Economists estimate a 1.5 percent increase in orders for factory goods after durable goods orders rose a better than expected 3 percent in the month.
In corporate news, Weyerhaeuser (WY) reported fourth quarter adjusted earnings of $77 million or 14 cents per share, higher than $52 million last year. Revenues were about in line with estimates.
Polaris (PII) announced a 64 percent increase in its regular quarterly dividend to 37 cents per share, effective in the first quarter 2012.
Cymer (CYMI) reported better than expected fourth quarter results, while it issued weak revenue guidance for the first quarter.
Thor Industries (THO) reported preliminary sales of $596.40 million for its second quarter, ahead of the consensus estimate.
Coldwater Creek (CWTR) promoted CFO Jim Bell to the newly created role of COO.
Video game software makers THQ, Inc. (THQI) and Take-two Interactive (TTWO) after peer Electronic Arts (EA) released solid holiday quarter results. THQ posted weaker than expected results for its third quarter and issued a bleak forecast. Take-two reported third quarter earnings that exceeded estimates, while it slashed its forecast for the year below the consensus estimate.
Acme Packet's (APKT) fourth quarter earnings were below estimates.
The major Asian markets ended mixed, as the U.S. non-farm payrolls kept traders on the tenterhooks. Japan's Nikkei 225 average languished below the unchanged line for much of the session, snapping a 3-session winning streak and closing down 44.89 points or 0.51 percent at 8,832.
Australia's All Ordinaries closed at 4,320, down 13.10 points or 0.30 percent, as traders feared to take fresh positions ahead of the U.S. jobs data, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended up 17.53 points or 0.08 percent at 20,757.
In a deal news, billionaire Li-Ka-Shing's Hutchinson's Whampoa announced an agreement to buy Orange Austria in a 1.3 billion euro-deal.
The major European markets are trading with moderate gains, with traders remaining optimistic despite the debt imbroglio of the region and the overbought levels of the markets.
In another deal news, U.K.-based Misys confirmed that it is in talks with Switzerland-based Temenos for a possible merger with the latter. Misys had earlier failed to clinch a deal with U.S.-based Fidelity National Information Services (FIS).
Revised service sector activity indicator for the eurozone released by Markit Economics showed that the sector saw expansion in January, although at a slightly slower pace than initially estimated. Meanwhile, the corresponding indicator for the U.K. showed that the headline business activity index rose 2 points to 56, the highest reading since March 2011. Economists had forecast the indicator to have declined to 53.3.
Crude oil futures are rising after the declines of the past five session and gold futures are higher too, while risk currencies are seeing modest strength.
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