US pre-open: Futures rise ahead of jobs report, Nike sinks

(Sharecast News) - US stocks were set to rise on Friday morning, following a subdued finish to proceedings the previous session, as bond yields hold stead ahead of the all-important non-farm payrolls report. The employment stats, due out at 1330 BST, are expected to help determine the Federal Reserve's next policy move when policymakers next meeting on 27-28 October.

Stock futures were pointing to a 0.6% gain on the Dow in pre-market trading, a 0.5% rise on the S&P 500, and a 0.7% increase on the Nasdaq.

"In the lead up to this [Fed] meeting, we have seen extreme volatility in the Treasury market, a mixed performance for stocks and a decline in expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike rates on consecutive meetings. After last month's 25bp rate hike from the Fed, the prospect of a rate hike this month has dropped to just 24%, a week ago it was more than 70%," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

Brooks said that this week's weaker core reading of PCE inflation has tempered expectations about future rate hikes, meaning Friday's jobs report is key in determining the near-term path for rates.

"This jobs report is less a read on the state of the US labour market, and more of a referendum on whether the Fed should continue to raise interest rates," she said.

US bond yields were little changed after pulling back on Thursday from the multi-decade highs seen earlier in the week. The 10-year yield was down 0.6 basis points at 5.236%, while the 30-year yield teetered at the 5.620% mark.

Meanwhile, front-month Brent crude futures were down 2.6% at $99.67 a barrel on the back of reports that the EU is considering releasing fuel reserves.

In equity news, Nike shares were set to sink when markets open after guiding to a sharper-than-expected decline in annual revenues after the close on Thursday. The sportswear giant attributed the gloomier outlook to difficulties in the Chinese market, as it also announced a wave of job cuts to start next year. Shares were down 9% in pre-market trading.