Erin Gibbs, CFO of Main Street Asset Management, Kevin Mahn, President of Hennion & Walsh Asset Management, and Andrew Thrasher, Founder of Thrasher Analytics, discuss the market’s reaction to the Federal Reserve’s handling of inflation and the economy.
US stock futures traded lower on Friday morning ahead of the release of the month’s most-anticipated economic report.
Major futures indexes are pointing to a 0.2% drop as Wall Street’s trading session gets underway.
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Oil prices traded lower on Friday after OPEC countries and allies decided to ramp up production to make up for lost supply from Russia.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded around $116 a barrel. Brent crude was around $117 a barrel.
Traders gather around a post on the trading floor in this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange. ((Courtney Crow/New York Stock Exchange via AP) / AP Newsroom)
On Friday morning, the Labor Department is expected to say that the US economy added 325,000 new nonfarm payrolls in May. That’s down from April’s 428,000. The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 3.5% from 3.6% in April. Note that hourly wages are up 0.4% from April and 5.2% from a year earlier.
MAY JOBS REPORT EXPECTED THAT JOBS HAVE GROWTH AS WHITE HOUSE WARNED
On Thursday, payroll service provider ADP reported that new hires from private US firms increased by just 128,000 in May. That is significantly less than the 300,000 new hires expected by economists.
The jobs report isn’t the only piece of economic data to be released.
The Institute for Supply Management releases its non-manufacturing PMI for May. This indicator of service sector activity is expected to fall to 56.4, its lowest level since February 2021, after an unexpected fall to 57.1 in April. A value above 50 indicates expansion.
In other news, Frontier Airlines will pay Spirit Airlines a $250 million break-up fee if regulators block a merger between the two airlines. Frontier is attempting to garner investor support for its merger and fend off a hostile bid from competitor JetBlue Airways.
Lululemon shares rose 2% in after-hours trading after the sportswear retailer raised its full-year sales guidance. Sales were better than Wall Street expected.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.2%. Trade in China was closed for a national holiday.
Bitcoin traded around $30,000.
Wall Street stocks weathered a shaky start to finish sharply higher on Thursday as major indices more than erased losses earlier in the holiday-shortened week.
| ticker | security | Last | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me: DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 33248.28 | +435.05 | +1.33% |
| SP500 | S&P500 | 4176.82 | +75.59 | +1.84% |
| I: COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 12316.897991 | +322.44 | +2.69% |
The S&P 500 rose 1.8% to 4,176.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3% to 33,248.28, while the Nasdaq climbed 2.7% to 12,316.90.
Technology stocks, whose highs tend to push the broader market either higher or lower, made up a large portion of Thursday’s rally.
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The yield on the 10-year government bond, which helps set interest rates on mortgages and other loans, was 2.91% Friday morning.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.