U.S. Stocks Set For Opening Gains After Jobs Report
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - U.S. stocks were geared to open higher Friday after the much-awaited employment report offered as-expected growth in September and a surprise upward revision to the prior month's count, calming worries about the economy.
"For the time being, the sense is the sky is not falling. We have a major concern about the magnitude of the slowdown in the U.S. economy, so this is clearly good news," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.
"The revision is an eye popper - most surprising is the 93,000 jobs they somehow missed," Hogan said.
"The caveat to all this euphoria would be two-fold - there is a large bet that the Fed cuts rates in October; that bet may now not look so advantageous. You better be careful, sometimes that light at the end of a tunnel is a train," Hogan said.
Up before the jobs report, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average doubled their earlier gains, and more recently rose 79 points to 14,120.
Futures for the S&P 500 added 8.60 points to 1,560.80, while those for the Nasdaq 100 climbed 15.50 points to 2,138.50.
The government said the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in September, but job growth was stronger than expected during the past three months, with nonfarm payrolls climbing by 110,000 in September, very close to expectations.
Corporate front
Before the open, Washington Mutual Inc. said it expects a third-quarter earnings drop of about 75% due in large part to the weakened housing market.
Barclays PLC has withdrawn its $84 billion bid for ABN Amro Holding NV after its tender netted too few shares, leaving a group led by Royal Bank of Scotland PLC as a likely buyer of the British bank.
Blackberry maker Research In Motion Ltd. late Thursday reported in-line profit and revenue growth in the second quarter.
Sprint Nextel Corp. is looking for a replacement chief executive, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal.
Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. on Thursday said it anticipates $845 million in charges related to the planned sale of its packaging and consumer products lines.
Other markets
In early trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude-oil futures for November delivery fell 55 cents to $80.85, while the December contract for gold slid $6.60 to $737.20.
The dollar railed against major counterparts in the wake of the employment data, with the dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of major currencies, up 0.2%. The euro fell 0.4% to $1.4078. The dollar traded up 0.4% at 116.91 against the yen.
Treasurys sold off, with the benchmark 10-year note falling 19/32 to 101 9/32, its yield up to 4.585.
By Kate Gibson