Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, November 10, 2022.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
US stock futures were little changed Friday as investors looked ahead to the December jobs report release. Strong jobs data in the previous session led to declines in the major averages as it pointed to further rate hikes ahead.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 2 points, or 0.01%. S&P 500 futures declined 0.12%, while Nasdaq-100 futures slipped 0.30%.
Economists polled by the Dow Jones expect the US added 200,000 jobs last month, which would mean a deceleration from gains in the previous month. A better-than-expected report pointing to a resilient labor market could mean the Federal Reserve has further to go in its efforts to tame inflation.
The Dow on Thursday fell more than 300 points Thursday after the release of a stronger-than-expected ADP private payrolls report. This raised concern for higher Federal Reserve rates, which in turn stoked fears that the US could fall into a recession soon.
“I’m allowing in my thinking that we could have a recession by the end of the year, and that recession will be brought about by Fed tightening, QT, quantitative tightening, a stronger dollar, or the price of oil,” said Omega Family Office’s Leon Cooperman on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Thursday.
“And if we have a recession, the market will have ended its decline, say, down 35% from its peak, so that gives you the low 3,000s,” Cooperman added.
Stocks are headed for losses in the first trading week of 2023. As of Thursday’s close, the Dow is down 0.66% week to date, headed for its fourth down week in five. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are both on pace for their fifth straight week of losses, down 0.82% and 1.54%, respectively.
