Stock Futures Little Changed Ahead of December Jobs Report

New York (Jan 6)  Stock futures were little changed on Friday morning as investors awaited a critical snapshot of the health of the U.S. labor market.

S&P 500 futures declined 0.06%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.08%, and Nasdaq futures rose 0.03%.

The U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for December, to be released before Friday's opening bell, is one of the most closely scrutinized data points of the month. Consensus is for 175,000 jobs to have been added to the U.S. economy and for average hourly earnings to have declined by 0.1%.

"Incoming business and consumer surveys suggest healthy hiring and job market conditions," said Lewis Alexander, chief U.S. economist at Nomura. "In addition, initial and continuing claims data imply that involuntary layoffs remain quite low and firms are eager to retain workers."

Crude oil prices moved higher on Friday, continuing to trade off of a decline in U.S. crude inventories and signs major oil-producing nations were adhering to an output cut agreement. Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest oil producers among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, reportedly cut its January output by 486,000 barrels a day. A production cut agreement among OPEC and other non-OPEC producers took effect this week.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.6% to $54.08 a barrel on Friday morning.

Gap (GPS) climbed 8.6% in premarket trading after reporting positive comparable-store sales over its holiday season, a welcome departure from the disappointing performances of other retailers such as Kohl's (KSS) and Macy's (M) . The apparel retailer reported a 2% increase in comparable sales over November and December. Gap also increased its full-year adjusted earnings guidance.

Source: TheStreet