U.S. stock futures edged higher Friday in light trade as investors awaited a slew of employment data.
Less than two hours before the start of trading, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 25 points higher at 10377. The S&P 500 futures advanced two points to 1093.8 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1.75points to 1782. Changes in futures do not always accurately predict early market moves after the opening bell.
The November nonfarm payrolls report is due at 8:30 a.m. and economists polled by MarketWatch expect 100,000 jobs to be lost -- less than the 190,000 jobs lost in October.
Strategists at Citigroup are predicting 100,000 jobs lost but point out that the market will also be closely scrutinizing the unemployment rate. The official unemployment rate is expected to remain at 10.2%, the highest since 1983.
"We believe that if the unemployment rate continues to rise following last month's surprise rise, markets will react negatively and boost the U.S. dollar even if nonfarm payroll declines slow to 100,000," said Citigroup's Michael Hart in a note to clients.
On Thursday, anxiety over the payrolls numbers sent stocks lower with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 87 points, the S&P 500 falling 9 points and the Nasdaq Composite losing 12 points. Some of the selling was attributed to caution before Friday's job report, particularly as St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the U.S. central bank could raise rates even if a recovery in jobs growth doesn't emerge.
The raft of employment data "is going to be a key instigator as to what happens in today's session," said Alistair McCaig at Worldspreads.
Caution ahead of the release sent gold and oil prices lower Friday. European stocks also fell amid nervousness about the payrolls, while the dollar traded mixed and the euro slipped.
Before the opening bell, shares of Take-Two tumbled 23% after the company issued a profit warning due to the poor performance of its baseball video game.
Overseas, the Nikkei 225 built on Thursday's rally, rising 0.5% to top the 10,000 level for the first time since late October.
European markets traded lower amid nervousness ahead of the release of U.S. nonfarm payrolls. Banks weigh on indexes as investors book profits after Thursday's gains, with Deutsche Bank down 2% and Standard Chartered down 4.1%. Insurers are also under pressure, with ING Groep down 2%.
Gold futures dropped $14 an ounce and oil futures fell 89 cents a barrel. The U.S. dollar traded in a narrow range against most rivals, though it dropped 0.5% against the British pound.
Treasurys edged broadly higher in London after Thursday's weak nonmanufacturing ISM and profit-taking in equity markets ahead of the jobs data. The two-year note is up at 100 2+/32, yielding 0.706%, while the 10-year rose and is yielding 3.363%.
