By Polya Lesova and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures rose on Friday ahead of the government’s August employment report, which could offer clues as to when the Federal Reserve may begin to scale back stimulus.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJU3 +0.22% gained 43 points to 14,960, and those for S&P 500 index SPU3 +0.33% rose 5.80 points to 1,658.8, while futures for the Nasdaq 100 index NDU3 +0.40% climbed 12.25 points to 3,140.2.
Ahead of the jobs report, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said he expects the Federal Reserve to wrap up its asset-purchase plan in the middle of 2014 and to make its first rate hike “late” in 2015.
The government’s nonfarm-payrolls report is the main scheduled event on Friday. The Federal Reserve has said it looks to data to help determine when to begin scaling back its asset-purchase program, and investors are likely to look to the August jobs report to see if it will strengthen the case for a September tapering.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expect 173,000 jobs to have been added to the economy in August, while the unemployment rate is forecast to remain at 7.4%. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.
“This is the final report before the 17-18 September FOMC meeting and is likely to be decisive in whether the Fed will initiate tapering at the September meeting,” analysts at Danske Bank said in a note.
“After the strong nonmanufacturing ISM employment index yesterday, we have upped our forecast for overall job growth to 230,000 in August. This should keep the Fed on track to scale down its asset purchases in September,” they added.
Stocks on Wall Street rose for a third straight session on Thursday, after ISM data showed the service sector grew in August at the fastest pace on record.
Fears of an imminent tapering process have recently spooked the Treasury market, with the yield on 10-year notes 10_YEAR -1.33% climbing as high at 3.005% on Thursday. In early Friday trade, the yield on the benchmark paper eased 3 basis points to 2.964%.
Investors also stayed cautious as world leaders gathered in St. Petersburg for the Group of 20 summit, with nations divided over whether to support military strikes in Syria.
In the corporate sector, shares of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. JCP +0.91% are expected to be active, on reports the retailer has dropped Martha Stewart-branded merchandise because of lackluster sales.
Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. SWHC -5.05% is also in the spotlight. The firearms maker fell more than 4% in after-hours trading on Thursday, after releasing a tepid outlook for the current quarter
In other financial markets, gold prices moved lower, while oil was on the rise. The dollar traded lower against most major currencies. Asian stocks closed mixed and European stocks wobbled ahead of the U.S. data.
