US pre-open: Futures cautiously higher ahead of NFP report

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Friday as market participants awaited the release of this month's all-important non-farm payrolls report. As of 1200 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.13%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.26% and 0.34% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 530.16 points lower on Thursday, the blue-chip's worst session in more than a year, after Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Neel Kashkari wonder aloud wether or not interest rates should be lowered amid persistent inflation numbers. However, it is worth noting that while Kashkari will express his views to policymakers at Federal Open Market Committee meetings, he will not be a voting member until 2026.

Friday's primary focus will be March's jobs data, due out at 1330 BST, with economists expecting to see non-farm payrolls grow by 200,000 and the unemployment rate drop down to 3.8% last month. Average hourly wages, another closely followed metric, were expected to rise by 0.3% month-on-month and 4.1% year-on-year.

Interactive Investor's Richard Hunter said: "The widely anticipated non-farm payrolls report later could add to volatility and investor unease should another blowout number be confirmed, which would throw further doubt on the likelihood of rate cuts. The consensus is that 200,000 jobs will have been added in March, as compared to 275,000 the month before, with the unemployment rate likely to remain stable at around 3.9%. Taken in the context of the previous Fed member comments, a hot reading would exert further sharp downward pressure on sentiment and therefore share prices."

Elsewhere on the macro front, February consumer credit change figures will be out at 2000 BST, while Federal Reserve bankers Lorie Logan and Michelle Bowman will deliver speeches at 1600 BST and 1715 BST, respectively.

Also of note, escalating tensions in the Middle East pushed oil prices north again on Friday, with West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.21% at $87.77 per barrel and Brent crude changing hands 0.39% higher at $91.00 a barrel.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com