US stock futures gain ahead of key jobs data

Investing.com--US stock index futures edged higher Monday, starting the new week on a positive tone ahead of the release crucial jobs data later next week.

At 06:15 ET (11:15 GMT), Dow Jones Futures  were up 40 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures were 30 points, or 0.5%, higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 180 points, or 0.9%.

Markets will see another shortened week of trading as the New York Stock Exchange will be closed on Thursday to honor the passing of former President Jimmy Carter. Markets await Fed meeting minutes, jobs data 

Minutes for the Federal Reserve’s Dec 17-18 meeting are due on Wednesday and Fed speakers this week include Thomas Barkin, Jeffrey Schmid and Patrick Harker.

This could help markets further gauge the Fed’s interest rate outlook, where it has signaled fewer rate cuts this year in the face of sticky inflation, and a resilient economy.

The December jobs report is due on Friday, and is expected to show that the US economy added 154,000 jobs in December, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.2%.

The US has a packed economic calendar for this, featuring the December ISM services PMI , final S&P Global PMIs , ADP employment data, JOLTS job openings , November factory orders and trade figures, and weekly jobless claims . Tech stocks in focus

There are major corporate earnings scheduled for this week from the likes of Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ ), Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA ) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL ).

“In 2025, we expect the S&P 500 will return 11%, rising to 6500 by year-end. Earnings growth will be the main driver of returns,” Goldman Sachs analyst said in a recent note.

Elsewhere, the tech sector is likely to remain in focus Monday, after posting strong gains at the end of last week, rebounding from the losses in the last week of 2024.

Among the “Magnificent Seven” megacaps, market darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA ) jumped 4.5%, while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA ) gained more than 8% on Friday. Crude awaits key data

Crude prices edged higher Monday, with tradering await the release of key US economic data later in the week.

By 06:15 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) climbed 0.1% to $74.06 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.4% to $76.56 a barrel.

Crude prices reported two straight weeks of gains on hopes of improving demand in China, especially as Beijing prepares to unlock more stimulus measures in the coming months.

Colder weather in the US and Europe is also expected to help boost oil demand, especially for distillates.

But strength in the dollar has limited gains Monday, as the greenback stayed close to two-year highs before a string of key economic readings this week which will provide clues as to the strength of the US economy, the largest consumer of energy in the world.

(Ayushman Ojha contributed to this article.)

Source: Investing.com