Futures Pointing To Initial Rebound On Wall Street

Following the sell-off seen late in the previous session, stocks may move back to the upside in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.5 percent.

Traders may look to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the steep drop seen during Thursday’s session, which dragged the Dow down to its lowest closing level in a month.

The futures have seen further upside following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing much stronger than expected job growth in the month of March.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment spiked by 303,000 jobs in March after surging by a downwardly revised 270,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs compared to the addition of 275,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The report also said the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8 percent in March from 3.9 percent in February, while economists had expected the unemployment rate to come in unchanged.

While the stronger than expected job growth may add to recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates, the report also showed a continued slowdown in the annual rate of wage growth.

The Labor Department said the annual rate of wage growth slowed to 4.1 percent in March from 4.3 percent in February, in line with estimates.

Stocks turned in a strong performance throughout much of the trading day on Thursday but came under substantial pressure in the latter part of the session. The major averages plummeted in the final two hours of trading, ending the day sharply lower.

The major averages saw continued weakness going into the close, finishing the session nearly their worst levels of the day. The Nasdaq tumbled 228.38 points or 1.4 percent to 16,049.08, while the S&P 500 slumped 64.28 points or 1.2 percent to 5,147.21.

After surging nearly 300 points in early trading, the Dow plunged 530.16 points or 1.4 percent to 38,596.98, closing lower for the fourth straight session.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 2.0 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi slumped by 1.0 percent.

The major European markets have also shown significant moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has slid by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both down by 1.5 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are inching up $0.06 to $86.65 a barrel after jumping $1.16 to $86.59 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after falling $6.50 to $2,308.50 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $0.50 to $2,308 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 151.70 yen versus the 151.34 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0806 compared to yesterday’s $1.0837.