Stock index futures were almost unchanged on Friday, a day after investors took some comfort from a larger-than-expected decline in weekly initial jobless claims.
S&P 500 futures (SPX) remained unchanged, Nasdaq 100 futures (US100:IND) -0.1% and Dow futures (INDU) were flat.
The Yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds (US10Y) by 3 basis points to 3.96%. The 2-year yield (US2Y) remained unchanged at 4.05%.
Major U.S. stock indices also closed higher on Thursday as concerns about the economy sliding into recession eased after initial jobless claims came in lower than expected.
“Just over a week after recession fears rocked markets, investors have regained some composure and stock prices have largely recovered the heavy losses of recent days,” said Richard Hunter of Interactive Investor.
“The markets are ending the week in a Disney paradise after starting the week completely frozen! The buoyant market sentiment of the last 24 hours was significantly strengthened by a decent US unemployment report,” said Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank.
The improved result suggests that the US labor market is sufficiently strong, but not that it is not falling apart. It does provide some evidence to support the idea that the weak employment numbers may be partly due to the weather, Reid added.
Traders focused on the initial jobless claims report as they sought to assess the labor market following last week’s disappointing employment report.
The economic calendar is empty today, only the Baker-Hughes oil rig count is scheduled.
