Stock futures are edging down after Apple put out a flat growth outlook, and as investors await the monthly jobs report.
Apple’s shares are down more than 3% in premarket trading after its executives said they expect the current quarter’s revenue to be similar to last year and reported a decline in its China business.
The jobs report for October is set to go out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Investors are hoping for a decline in nonfarm payrolls, as a sign that the economy is slowing and the Federal Reserve can stop tightening financial conditions. Economists estimate that employers added 170,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate held steady at 3.8%.
“Central banks indicated they don’t have much more to do. The rally this week has been from this relief and bond yields coming off as a result,” said Arun Sai, a multiasset strategist at Pictet Asset Management. “If we have a strong labor market number, this might reverse.”
The S&P 500 is up 4.9% this week, on track for its best weekly performance since November 2022. Government bonds have also rallied, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note declining for the past three sessions. Bonds have also gotten a boost from the Treasury Department’s plan to slow the pace of debt issuance.
Stock-index futures inched down. Contracts linked to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 declined gently while those tied to the Dow were flat.
Treasury yields edged down. The yield on the benchmark note extended its three-day decline.
Stocks rallied in Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 2.5% and the Shanghai Composite Index was up as well, following Thursday’s Wall Street gains. A gauge of services activity in China rose in October.
Bitcoin fell. The cryptocurrency declined more than 3%. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud Thursday and crypto exchange Coinbase Global reported a seventh quarter of losses.
Oil prices were stable. The most actively traded Brent crude contract hovered around $87 a barrel. Traders have become less concerned that the Israel-Hamas conflict could disrupt Middle Eastern oil supplies.