Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures jump on strong job data

U.S. stock futures moved higher on Thursday as investors weighed a stronger-than-expected January jobs report and turned their attention to upcoming corporate earnings and fresh inflation data.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 0.3%, while S&P 500 futures gained a similar margin, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 advanced roughly 0.2%. The modest uptick followed a volatile session on Wall Street that ended with major indexes little changed.

Markets are now looking ahead to Friday’s release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key inflation measure closely monitored by the Federal Reserve. A softer inflation reading could reinforce hopes that price pressures are cooling without derailing economic growth.

Investors are also awaiting weekly jobless claims data, especially after January’s nonfarm payrolls report showed the U.S. economy added roughly twice as many jobs as economists had expected. The unexpectedly strong hiring data has complicated the outlook for Federal Reserve policy. A resilient labor market combined with persistent inflation could diminish the chances of near-term interest rate cuts, which have been a major driver of recent stock market gains.

On the corporate front, Cisco Systems shares fell around 7% after the company missed profit forecasts in its latest earnings report. McDonald’s stock also slipped despite posting better-than-expected results. After the closing bell, earnings from Coinbase, Applied Materials, and Rivian are set to draw investor attention.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev