US pre-open: Futures point to flat open ahead of non-farm payrolls report

US stock futures pointed to a relatively flat open as investors awaited a much anticipated nonfarm payrolls report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open approximately four points lower, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are set to begin the final session of the week one and seven points higher respectively.

All eyes on non-farm payrolls

The highly monitored non-farm payrolls report is scheduled for release at 1330 GMT and is expected to show the US economy added 181,000 jobs in October, up from the 142,000 it added in the previous month.

Friday’s release is the penultimate non-farm payrolls report before the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in December, when the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates for the first time since 2006.

“The Fed has consistently stated that it intends to raise interest rates this year as long as the economy continues to recover in line with its expectations, which was clearly the case up until its October meeting when it once again reaffirmed its position, despite a weakening in the data and growing headwinds from abroad,” said Oanda’s senior market analyst Craig Erlam.

In company news, Nvida surged 10.1% in pre-market trading after its quarterly results beat expectations late on Thursday, while TripAdvisor plunged 9.45% after its quarterly profit fell short of estimates.

Walt Disney slid 0.13% after reporting lower-than-expected revenue, while Kraft Heinz shed 2.21% after its quarterly profit missed forecasts, although the food and beverage giant lifted its dividend.

Cigna and Humana will report before the bell, while Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is scheduled to report after the close.

ZS Pharma jumped 41% after AstraZeneca revealed it had agreed to pay $2.7bn for the biotech group, while DuPont edged 0.84% higher after saying it was in separate talks with Dow Chemical and Syngenta over a potential combination of agricultural units.

Dow and Syngenta were 0.45% and 3.67% higher respectively.

Elsewhere, European stocks declined, while Asian equity markets closed mostly higher, as Chinese stocks rallied.

The dollar was flat against the euro but gained 0.57% and 0.18% against the pound and the yen respectively, while gold futures rose 0.44% to $1,108.81.

Oil prices edged higher, with West Texas Intermediate gaining 0.72% to $45.35 a barrel and Brent crude up 0.99% to $48.46 a barrel.