U.S. stock futures pointed to a split open Friday as Wall Street tried to steady after Thursday’s artificial-intelligence rout, with the October jobs report due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
Nasdaq-100 futures rose 1.50% to 27,153.00 as of 6:58 a.m. Eastern, while S&P futures added 0.25% to 7,401.25 as of 6:57 a.m. Dow futures lagged, down 1.02% at 51,087.00 as of 7:10 a.m. The delayed quotes capture different moments in a moving premarket session.
Chip stocks led the attempted rebound. Nvidia was up roughly 4% in early premarket trading after its worst day since January 2025. AMD, Intel, Broadcom and Micron Technology also gained, early trading showed. At 6:24 a.m., an earlier futures snapshot put Nasdaq-100 contracts up 1.41%, S&P 500 contracts up 0.29% and Dow contracts down 0.91%.
On Thursday, the Nasdaq Composite posted its steepest one-day drop in 19 months and closed nearly 12% below its October 6 record, putting it in correction territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 1,833 points, or 3.4%, and the S&P 500 lost about 4.4% in its worst day since April 2025. The VIX volatility index eased to about 27 early Friday after its biggest one-day point jump in about 19 months on Thursday.
October jobs report arrives at 8:30
The main event lands 60 minutes before the regular stock-market open: the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the October jobs report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, per the release schedule. Economists expect about 59,000 jobs added, up from 29,000 in September, with the unemployment rate forecast to hold at 4.2%, according to the Dow Jones consensus.
Weekly jobless claims fell to 189,000 in the week ended October 31, the Labor Department said Thursday. Traders were pricing in a better-than-65% chance of a December rate hike ahead of the report, according to CME FedWatch data cited in the early market coverage.
Slow hiring, lower mortgage rates
For households, the report will offer a fresh look at a job market marked by slow hiring but few layoffs. Payroll gains averaged about 35,000 a month from January 2025 through September 2026, while employers have been reluctant both to add staff and to cut workers.
Homebuyers are entering the day with mortgage rates lower for a third straight week. The 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 7.18% as of November 5, down from 7.24% a week earlier, according to Freddie Mac’s survey. For retirement savers, the premarket tech rebound follows a sharp hit to technology shares, with the jobs release still ahead of the opening bell.
JBizNews Desk | Wall Street
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