All eyes on January nonfarm payrolls
U.S. stocks were set to open in the green on Friday as market participants looked forward to January nonfarm payrolls report for clues on whether significantly more fiscal stimulus will be needed keep the economic recovery alive.
On average, economists polled by data provider FactSet project that U.S. employers added 100,000 jobs last month following an unexpected loss of 140,000 in December. The unemployment rate is expected to remain steady at 6.7% for a third consecutive month.
By 5:00 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow were indicated a gain of 112 points, or 0.36% to 31,062. Those for the S&P 500 rose 13.78 points, or 0.36% to 3,878.38 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 39.75 points, or 0.29% to 13,587.25.
Crude prices soar buoyed by OPEC+ cuts and growth hopes
Crude futures were also positive early Friday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies maintained their output tightening policy at a meeting on Wednesday.
Further boosting crude prices, a report showing new orders for U.S.-made goods jumped higher than projected in December, implying continued strength in manufacturing.
As 5:00 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 70 cents, or 1.24% to $56.93 a barrel. International Brent crude futures were at $59.58, up 58 cents or 0.98% a barrel.
Robinhood scraps trading limits on GameStop and AMC
Robinhood has removed limits on buying GameStop (NYSE: GME) and AMC (NYSE: AMC), which have been at the center of the battle between short-sellers and the Reddit investor forum WallStreetBets.
The trading app announced the decision in an update on its website. “There are currently no temporary limits to increasing your positions,” Robinhood said.
The announcement saw the two stocks add slight gains in the pre-market trading session Friday. As of this writing, GameStop stock was up 6.88% to $57.18 a share pre-market. AMC jumped 2.40% to $7.26 a share.
