Wall Street set for negative open
U.S. stock markets are expected to start in the red on Friday as traders await election results from battleground states that remain too close to call.
By 4:50 a.m. ET, futures for the blue-chip Dow were indicated 200 points, or 0.71% lower to 28,097. Those on the S&P 500 fell 32.18 points, or 0.92% to 3,472.62 while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 dropped 146.5 points, or 1.21% to 11,930.
Former vice president Joe Biden continues to lead President Donald Trump, 264 to 214 electoral votes, according to calls made by The Associated Press. Trump’s lead has shrunk in the key state of Pennsylvania, and Biden has pulled ahead of the president in Georgia.
Fed keeps rates unchanged at near zero
Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve on Thursday kept monetary policy steady with interest rates at rock bottom in its first scheduled meeting after the U.S. election.
The central bank also warned that the coronavirus pandemic “will continue to weigh on the economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term.”
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated at a virtual press briefing Thursday that the outlook for the economy is “extraordinarily uncertain” and will largely depend on the success of efforts to keep Covid-19 in check.
The central bank committed to purchasing about $120 billion in bonds a month, including $80 billion Treasury securities and $40 billion agency mortgage-backed securities per month to support market functioning.
October jobs report in focus
On the data front, the U.S. Department of Labor is due to publish October jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Economists believe employers may have slowed their hiring in October for a fourth straight month with coronavirus cases hitting record levels and the loss of economic stimulus deepening the hardships for Americans.
Expectations are for employers to have added 580,000 jobs last month, compared to 661,000 in September and 1.5 million in August. The unemployment rate is set to drop 7.7% from 7.9%, according to data compiled by FactSet.
On Thursday, the Department said the number of Americans who are continuing to receive traditional jobless benefits fell to 7.3 million last week.
Uber slumps as earnings fall short of expectations
In other news, shares in Uber (NYSE: UBER) are sliding after the company missed analysts’ estimates as the pandemic weighed on its third-quarter revenues. However, the company said its business came back “steadily” as countries loosened restrictions on travel and socializing during the quarter.
Uber narrowed losses in the quarter to $1.09 billion, marginally worse than a Wall Street’s consensus forecast of $1.02 billion. Revenue fell 18% on a year-over-year basis to $3.1 billion, missing forecasts of $3.2 billion.
The company announced the results just two days after Californians passed Proposition 22, a ballot measure that exempts ride-hailing firms from classifying drivers as employees.
Uber shares were down 2.41% to $40.95 apiece in the pre-market trading session Friday.
