Futures are a bit lower ahead of the jobs report
Near 6:41 a.m. ET, Dow futures were down 23 points, S&P 500 futures were down 2 points, and Nasdaq futures were down 6 points.
On Thursday, stocks closed in the red amid a sell off in media and biotechnology stocks. The Dow clocked its sixth down day, and the Nasdaq had its worst day in nearly a month.
At 8:30 a.m. ET, the Department of Labor will release the hugely anticipated employment situation report for July. It's one of just two before September, when expectations that the Fed will move to raise rates are growing.
In a morning note, Accendo Markets' Mike van Dulken told clients, "Equities hindered this morning, despite Asian gains, following a weak US close on uncertainty regarding today's US Jobs report and what it could mean for the employment half of the Fed's mandate and whether it moves to raise rates in September or waits until later in the year."
Economists estimate that the US economy added 225,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate held steady at 5.3%. They estimate average hourly earnings grew 0.2% month-over-month and 2.3% year-over-year, according to Bloomberg. We have a full preview of the report here.
The US dollar index was virtually unchanged near 97.80. Gold was also trading sideways near $1,090,70 an ounce.
Treasuries were rallying, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at 2.23%.
After falling towards year-to-date lows, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures in New York were slightly higher, near $44.70 per barrel.