U.S. stock index futures held near record highs on Friday as all attention shifted to the highly anticipated jobs report that could feed into the Federal Reserve’s plans to taper its massive pandemic-era stimulus.
At 8:05 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 46 points, or 0.13%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 7.75 points, or 0.17% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 25.75 points, or 0.17%.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have scaled all-time highs over the past few weeks on support from robust corporate earnings, but investors have grown cautious recently as the Fed issued hawkish signals while data pointed to a slowdown in a broader economic recovery.
The labor market remains the key touchstone for the Fed, with Chair Jerome Powell hinting at the Jackson Hole Symposium last week that reaching full employment was a pre-requisite for the central bank to start paring back its asset purchases.
Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket:
Netflix – The video streaming service’s stock remains on watch today after rising in 14 of the past 15 sessions and hitting an all-time high in Thursday’s session.
MongoDB Inc. – MongoDB lost 24 cents per share for its latest quarter, narrower than the 39 cent loss that analysts anticipated. The database platform company also reported better-than-expected revenue and gave upbeat current-quarter revenue guidance. Shares soared 13.5% in premarket action.
PagerDuty, Inc. – PagerDuty shares surged 14.5% in the premarket, after reporting a loss and revenue that beat consensus. The provider of digital operations management solutions reported an adjusted loss of 13 cents per share for its latest quarter, 2 cents narrower than expected, while issuing a strong current-quarter revenue outlook.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise – Hewlett Packard Enterprise came in 5 cents ahead of estimates with adjusted quarterly earnings of 47 cents per share, while revenue was essentially in line with analyst forecasts. The company’s business continues to get a boost from the pandemic-driven move to digital operations.
Western Digital – The disk drive maker’s shares added 1.9% in the premarket, following a published report in Japan saying memory chip maker Kioxia favors a planned initial public offering over a possible merger with Western Digital. The two sides had reportedly been in advanced talks to merge in a deal worth $20 billion or more.
Docusign – DocuSign beat estimates by 7 cents with adjusted quarterly earnings of 47 cents per share and revenue that topped Street forecasts. The provider of electronic signature technology also raised its full-year guidance for total revenue, subscription revenue and billings.
Broadcom – The chip maker reported adjusted quarterly earnings of $6.96 per share, 8 cents above estimates, with revenue slightly above consensus. Broadcom also issued an upbeat current-quarter outlook as it continues to see strong demand in the 5G mobile market.
fuboTV Inc. – The sports programming streaming service’s shares jumped 4.5% in premarket trading after it received approval from Arizona regulators to offer mobile wagering in the state. Arizona is the second state to allow fuboTV to offer such betting, following a recent approval in Iowa.
Aurora Cannabis Inc – The cannabis producer’s shares were upgraded to “hold” from “underperform” at Jefferies, which cited a number of factors including valuation. The stock added 1% in premarket trading.
MicroStrategy – The business analytics company’s stock rose 3.1% in the premarket, as it continues to closely track movements in bitcoin. MicroStrategy has more than $5 billion in bitcoin on its balance sheet.