US Stocks On Edge As Traders Brace For Crucial Jobs Report: Why This Fund Manager Says AI Stocks Just Received Big Boost

Traders are cautiously optimistic ahead of the all-important payrolls report, with the index futures narrowly mixed in early Friday. The suspension of the Longshoremen’s strike removes one of the overhangs even as the Middle East tensions rage unabated. The September job gains could have a big impact on the near-term direction of the market.

“Payroll data will be closely watched as the sentiment is now that the Fed has become less focused on inflation and more on employment,” said fund manager Louis Navellier. A BofA note highlighted that the S&P 500 futures have been more reactive to non-farm payroll data than any other economic data in recent years, a screenshot of the note shared by a financial writer on X showed.

In premarket trading on Friday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) gained 0.16% to $568.75 and the Invesco QQQ ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ) moved 0.32% higher to $483.14, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

U.S. stocks showed nervousness throughout Thursday’s session before closing lower, with geopolitical tensions, the dockworkers’ strike and mixed economic data weighing down on sentiment. While a bigger-than-expected increase in jobless claims stirred anxiety about the monthly jobs data, the Institute for Supply Management’s stronger-than-expected service sector purchasing managers’ index tempered expectations concerning a bigger cut.

The Nasdaq Composite oscillated back and forth in the morning session but languished mostly below the unchanged line in the afternoon before ending marginally lower. This is despite IT and communication services posting moderate gains. The broader S&P 500 Index traded mostly in the red and ended modestly lower, with ...

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