U.S. Stock Futures Fluctuate As Traders React To Upbeat Jobs Data

With traders reacting to the closely watch monthly jobs report, U.S. stock futures have fluctuated in recent trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 154 points.

The lack of direction being shown by the futures comes after the Labor Department released a report showing much stronger than expected job growth in the month of February.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 379,000 jobs in February after climbing by an upwardly revised 166,000 jobs in January.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 182,000 jobs compared to the uptick of 49,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The stronger than expected job growth was primarily due to a rebound in employment in the leisure and hospitality industry, which added 355,000 jobs.

The report also said the unemployment rate unexpectedly edged down to 6.2 percent in February from 6.3 percent in January. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.

The strong jobs data is an upbeat sign for the economy, but traders are also paying close attention to the reaction in the bond markets.

Yields initially jumped in reaction to the jobs report, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reaching a one-year high above 1.6 percent.

The ten-year yield has given back some ground since then but remains at an elevated level that may add to recent concerns about higher interest rates.

Stocks saw substantial volatility during trading on Thursday, with a sell-off seen in early afternoon trading resulting in a sharply lower close for the markets. With the steep drop on the day, the major averages extended the substantial move to the downside seen Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Dow and the S&P 500 slumped to their lowest closing levels in a month, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged to a two-month closing low.

The major averages all posted steep losses on the day, although the Nasdaq underperformed its counterparts. The Nasdaq plummeted 274.28 points or 2.1 percent to 12,723.47, while the Dow tumbled 345.95 points or 1.1 percent to 30,924.14 and the S&P 500 dove 51.25 points or 1.3 percent to 3,768.47.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell by 0.5 percent.

European stocks have also moved mostly lower on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.5 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are jumping $1.42 to $65.25 a barrel after spiking $2.55 to $63.83 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after slumping $15.10 to $1,700.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are sliding $13.50 to $1,687.20 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 108.34 yen versus the 107.98 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1925 compared to yesterday’s $1.1969.