Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
NYSE
Stock futures remained flat during overnight trading on Thursday, following a winning four-day streak on Wall Street as investors awaited a closely watched January job report.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose just 20 points. The S&P 500 futures were flat and the Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.1%.
The Department of Labor will release its January work report Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect 50,000 payrolls added last month, after falling 140,000 in December, according to Dow Jones. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 6.7%.
There have been signs of improvement in the recovery of the labor market. Weekly unemployment claims data on Thursday showed 779,000 first-time applicants, the lowest since Nov. 28 and below the 830,000 expected by economists.
The S&P 500 rose a fourth day to close the record high on Thursday, driven by technology and banking stocks. The Dow jumped more than 300 points in the previous session, while the Nasdaq Composite also hit a new high.
“The three pillars of the rally really got stronger: fourth-quarter profits continue to drastically exceed expectations, more stimulus is being poured into the economy and the pace of vaccination is accelerating,” Adam said. Crisafulli, founder of VItal Knowledge, in a note.
With four consecutive days of gains, the main averages continue their best weekly performance since November. The Dow gained 3.6%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 4.2% and 5.4%, respectively. The market rebounded due to last week’s heavy losses as the speculative trade frenzy dissipated.
Wall Street is in the midst of a profit season. Of the 184 companies in the S&P 500 that have recorded results so far, 84.2% exceeded analysts’ expectations, according to Refinitiv.
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