By Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan
(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures gained on Friday, a day after equities slumped on hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials, while investors braced for a key jobs report that could help shape the monetary policy outlook.
All three major stock indexes closed more than 1% lower in the last session after comments from Fed officials sparked a broader market selloff.
Minneapolis Fed Bank President Neel Kashkari said while he had penciled in two rate cuts for this year at the U.S. central bank’s meeting last month, none may be required if inflation continues to elude the Fed’s target.
The , also known as Wall Street’s ‘fear gauge’, closed at its highest since November in the previous session and was last up 0.26 points at 16.62.
Money markets, however, are still pricing in about a 61% chance of at least a 25 basis point rate cut from the central bank in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
The market focus is now on the nonfarm payrolls report for March, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, which is expected to offer a clear indication of where the labor market stands and help shape investor bets’ on rate cuts.
Economists polled by Reuters anticipate a rise of 200,000 jobs in the United States, compared with 275,000 in February, while the unemployment rate will likely remain steady at 3.9%.
“The narrative around the potential for interest rate cuts has been slightly contradictory this week, so there’s a lot resting on this data to help steady the ship,” Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown wrote in a note.
“A looser labor market could help back the argument that the economy is returning to more stable footing.”
Investors would also look for more clues on the monetary policy in comments from Fed Governor Michelle Bowman, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan and Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, scheduled to speak during the day.
Mounting tensions in the Middle East, with oil prices extending their gains amid supply disruption concerns, is another area of concern for the markets. [O/R]
A slew of mixed economic data during the week, such as the soft services activity report, the stronger manufacturing report and comments from policymakers have pressured equities, with all three indexes heading for weekly losses.
At 7:25 a.m. ET, were up 68 points, or 0.17%, were up 14.25 points, or 0.27%, and were up 59 points, or 0.33%.
Most megacap growth stocks edged up in premarket trading, with Tesla (NASDAQ:), Nvidia (NASDAQ:) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:) up between 0.5% and 0.6%.
Krispy Kreme gained 5.2% in premarket trading after Piper Sandler upgraded the doughnut chain to “overweight” from “neutral”.
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:) rose 1.1%, recouping some losses after shedding over 8% on Thursday. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell about 3% in the last session.
Shockwave Medical (NASDAQ:) gained 1.3% after Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:) agreed to buy the medical device maker for $12.5 billion.
