Stock futures fell slightly on Friday as investors looked to the November jobs report for insight into the health of the economy.
Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 46 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures lost 0.2%, while Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.3%.
Investors are focused on the Labor Department’s report on nonfarm payrolls, the unemployment rate and hourly wages, due at 8:30 am. Economists expect the economy to have added 200,000 jobs in November, according to Dow Jones, which would be a smaller gain. compared to 261,000 views in October.
Friday’s is the last monthly jobs report before the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting on Dec. 13-14, in which the central bank is expected to raise its target funds rate feed in half a percentage point. A 50 basis point increase would mark a slowdown from previous rate hikes of 75 basis points set by the central bank.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell appeared to confirm that a slowdown in rate hikes is on the horizon in a speech on Wednesday, signaling that a withdrawal could begin as soon as this month. Stocks rallied, and the Dow ended up more than 700 points, after his remarks.
“Given the data we’ve seen since the last meeting, I think it would take something really shocking for the Fed to change course now,” said Craig Erlam, market analyst at Oanda.
The Dow closed down nearly 195 points on Thursday as traders sought to reduce exposure ahead of the release of employment data. The S&P 500 fell 0.09% on Thursday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.13%.
Thursday’s moves followed a mixed batch of economic data, including a core personal consumption expenditure report that was slightly better than expected on a monthly basis and a bigger-than-expected drop in the index of ISM manufacturing. The so-called PCE deflator is one of the Federal Reserve’s favorite gauges of inflation.