Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
NYSE
Stock futures were flat in Thursday morning trading after a four-day winning streak on Wall Street as investors awaited a closely watched January job report.
Futures in the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose just 20 points. The S&P 500 futures were flat and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.1%.
The Labor Department will release its January employment report on Friday at 8:30 am (Brasília time). Economists expect 50,000 payrolls to be added last month, after a fall of 140,000 in December, according to Dow Jones. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at 6.7%.
There are signs of improvement in the recovery of the labor market. Thursday’s weekly unemployment insurance claim data showed 779,000 first records, the lowest since November 28 and below the 830,000 expected by economists.
The S&P 500 rose for the fourth day to close at a record high on Thursday, boosted by bank stocks and technology. The Dow Jones jumped more than 300 points in the previous session, while the Nasdaq Composite also hit a new high.
“The three pillars of the upturn have actually gotten stronger: fourth quarter earnings continue to dramatically exceed expectations, more stimuli are pouring into the economy and the pace of vaccination is accelerating,” said Adam Crisafulli, founder of VItal Knowledge, in note.
With four consecutive days of gains, the main averages are in pace with their best weekly performance since November. The blue-chip Dow gained 3.6%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 4.2% and 5.4%, respectively. The market recovered from last week’s sharp losses as the speculative trading frenzy dissipated.
Wall Street is in the midst of a solid earnings season. Of the 184 S&P 500 companies that have reported profits to date, 84.2% have exceeded analysts’ expectations, according to Refinitiv.
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