Dow futures mixed; Apple earnings and nonfarm payrolls in spotlight By Investing.com

Investing.com — U.S. stock futures traded mixed on Friday as investors digested earnings from tech giant Apple (NASDAQ:) ahead of the release of the key monthly jobs report.

At 6:55 a.m. ET (10:55 GMT), the contract was up 5 points, or 0.2%, while it was trading down 6 points, or 0.2%, and down 50 points, or 0, 4%.

Wall Street on its way to big weekly gains

Wall Street’s major indexes posted strong gains Thursday and are on track for big weekly gains, fueled by renewed hopes that an era of unprecedented monetary tightening could be coming to an end in the wake of the ECB’s decision. Federal Reserve to drop interest rates. unchanged for a second consecutive meeting.

Blue chip stocks are up 4.4% so far this week, in line with their next week since October 2022. Broad stocks are up 4.9% this week and tech stocks are up 5.2%. , both looking for their best weeks since November of last year. .

The employment report occupies an important place

That positive tone has another test this week: the widely watched monthly, which will be one of the data sets the Fed will look at to decide its next step.

The US economy is expected to have created 180,000 jobs last month, up from 336,000 in September. The rate stood at 3.8%, matching the previous month’s figure, while it is expected to have increased by 0.3% in October, following a gain of 0.2% in September.

Traders will likely be watching for any signs of resilience in the labor market, a trend that could give the Fed more room to raise interest rates again.

On Wednesday, the president left open the possibility of another rate hike before the end of the year, but the market now widely expects the Fed to leave rates alone in December.

Apple disappoints with its holiday quarter forecast

In the corporate sector, Apple stock fell premarket after the tech giant predicted quarterly sales below market estimates, blaming weak demand for iPads and wearable devices, particularly in the China’s key market.

The California-based company said revenue in its December quarter – typically one of its strongest due to holiday shopping – would be in line with the corresponding period last year. However, the quarter will be one week shorter, reducing sales by 7%.

The earnings of Burger King and Tim Horton’s parent company Restaurant Brands (NYSE:) and movie theater operator Cinemark (NYSE:) will be in the spotlight.

Oil expected to suffer heavy weekly losses

Oil prices rose slightly on Friday, adding to strong gains from the previous session after traders became increasingly confident that the Federal Reserve was done with its series of interest rate hikes , affecting the dollar.

At 6:55 a.m. ET, futures were trading 0.3% higher at $82.67 per barrel, while the contract was up 0.1% at $86.94 per barrel.

Both benchmarks gained more than $2 a barrel on Thursday, but are expected to lose more than 3% for the week, their second consecutive week of declines, as the lack of escalation in the war between Israel and Hamas dissipated concerns. concerns about oil supply disruptions. -rich region.

At the same time, recent data from China has highlighted the uncertain demand outlook in the world’s top importer.

Additionally, the price rose 0.1% to $1,995.85/ounce, while trading 0.2% higher at 1.0643.

(Oliver Gray contributed to this article.)