All eyes on non-farm payrolls report
U.S. stock futures were trading cautiously on Friday ahead of the release of the monthly non-farm payrolls report out this morning.
Economists surveyed by FactSet expect the report, which will be released by the Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. ET, to show the economy added roughly 400,000 jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to come in at 4.7%.
In September, employers added just 194,000 jobs while the unemployment rate stood at 4.8%.
At around 5:10 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow Jones were indicated 10.6 points, or 0.03% to 36,113.60. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gained 24.5 points, or 0.15% to 16,370.7 while S&P 500 futures were flat.
Uber posts its first quarterly profit
Meanwhile, Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) are rising after the company reported its first operating profit as a public company.
The ride-hailing giant posted its first adjusted EBITDA profit of $8 million for its fiscal third quarter. Revenue came in at $4.85 billion, well ahead of analyst estimates of $4.4 billion.
However, the company still posted a huge net loss because of its investment in Didi, a ride-sharing company based in China. Uber reported a net loss of $2.4 billion during the quarter.
For the current quarter, the company expects an adjusted EBITDA of between $25 million to $75 million compared with analysts’ expectations of $98 million.
Uber stock was trading 94 cents, or 2.08% to $46.21 per share in the premarket trading session.
Crude futures edge higher as OPEC+ sticks to production plan
On the commodities front, crude futures rose early Friday following the conclusion of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, a group known as OPEC+.
The oil producers announced Thursday that they stick to plans for a gradual hike in production after they made cuts during the Covid-19 crisis last year.
Under the plan, OPEC+ members will increase oil production by 400,000 barrels per day from December, dismissing a request from the White House for a hike in order to keep prices lower.
Following the OPEC+ meeting, the White House said the Biden administration would use the wide range of tools at its disposal to ensure the Americans have access to affordable energy.
As of writing, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 1.1% to $79.66 a barrel. Global Brent crude futures jumped were at $81.02, up 0.6% a barrel.
