S&P 500 futures rose 0.45% before the September payroll report. Nike was the overnight laggard, while Europe rallied and Asia sold off.
U.S. stock futures pointed higher early Friday, extending Thursday's modest recovery, as investors positioned for the September jobs report and a drop in oil prices eased some of the week's inflation anxiety.
S&P 500 futures were up about 0.45% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.74%, with Dow futures up 0.45% and Russell 2000 futures up 0.5%. On Thursday the S&P 500 closed at 7,666.45, a gain of 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite edged up to 26,871.60 as Treasury yields retreated from their highest levels since 2002. The VIX volatility index finished at 15.93.
Overnight movers
Nike was the notable decliner, trading about 9% lower after it guided full-year earnings well below expectations and announced a restructuring. Synaptics rose about 15% after hours on revised cash terms from onsemi, which itself gained about 7%. Mattel held near its Thursday close of $15.04 after an 18.8% jump on takeover reports.
Oil and rates
Brent crude fell 2.9% to $99.35 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate dropped 3.9% to $89.29 as European governments met to consider releasing emergency fuel stocks. The 10-year Treasury yield stood near 5.24%, down from an intraday peak of about 5.34% on Thursday. The dollar index rose 0.25% to 101.71, and gold traded around $4,212 an ounce.
A split world
Overseas markets diverged sharply. The Euro Stoxx 50 rose about 1%, and Germany's DAX gained 225 points, as lower oil prices offset a hotter-than-expected inflation reading for the euro area. Asia went the other way: Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.7% to 23,943, and Japan's Nikkei dropped 647 points.
The day's test
Economists expect the economy added about 90,000 jobs in September, down from 162,000 in August, with unemployment holding at 4.1%. The report arrives after a week in which Federal Reserve leaders signaled patience on further rate increases and futures-implied odds of an October hike fell to about 28%.
The setup is asymmetric. A print near consensus would support the Fed's case for waiting and could extend the bond rally. A number well above it would revive talk of an October move and test the rebound in rate-sensitive stocks that began on Thursday.
What to watch: The two-year Treasury yield in the minutes after 8:30 a.m. It closed Thursday at 4.78%, down 10 basis points on the day, and is the most direct gauge of whether the jobs data changes the Fed's near-term path.