FYI: U.S. stock index futures indicated a slightly higher open on Wall Street Friday morning.
At around 2:00 a.m. ET, Dow futures were trading 19 points higher, indicating a positive open above 29 points. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures also traded slightly higher.
Wall Street closed higher after two-days of intense sell-off. The recovery came off the back of growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates later this month.
• European stocks gain
• Treasury yields lower
• Hong Kong stocks drop
Global markets paused on Friday, with European stocks posting gentle rises after a mixed session in Asia, as investors braced for the September U.S. jobs report.
The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.3% in early trade, after suffering heavy losses earlier in the week.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1% after the city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, said that from Saturday a ban would be implemented on wearing masks at public gatherings, with penalties of up to a year in jail and a fine.
The ban could escalate tensions between the government and protesters, leading to more violent confrontations, according to Francis Lun, chief executive at Geo Securities. “Investors should avoid Hong Kong-related stocks amid worsening social unrest,” he said.
Developers Sun Hung Kai Properties and New World Development were down 3.4% and 2.3%, respectively, and Hong Kong subway operator MTR lost 2.5%.
Stock markets in mainland China were closed on Friday.
The jobs report later Friday will provide the latest signal on the health of the U.S. economy during a period of global turbulence. Investors have grown skittish about global economic growth this week amid a series of weak data from the eurozone and the U.S. and the prospect of fresh tariffs from the U.S. on certain exports from the European Union.
The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasurys edged down to 1.525% on Friday, from 1.531% on Thursday.
The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the currency against a basket of its peers, ticked down 0.1%.
Market watchers will comb the U.S. jobs data for signs of weakness, which could influence the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate policy moving forward. Economists expect nonfarm payrolls were up 140,000 during the month, while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%. Average hourly earnings are forecast to have risen 3.3% from September 2018.
Later Friday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at a Fed Listens event in Washington.
At a Wall Street Journal event in New York on Thursday, Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said the central bank will do what it takes to keep the longest period of U.S. economic expansion going. He added that the central bank takes each policy meeting “one at a time.”
U.S. stock indexes had bounced back from early drops on Thursday to close higher as traders increased their bets that the Fed would move to lower interest rates two more times by the end of the year.
In commodities, global oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.4% to $57.95 per barrel. Gold was flat.
Regards,
Ted
WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-pause-ahead-of-jobs-report-11570177046Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-03/asia-stocks-to-edge-higher-treasuries-climb-markets-wrapIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-hp-to-slash-up-to-9000-jobs-costco-ringcentral-avaya-also-move-on-news/CNBC::
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/04/dow-futures-nonfarm-payrolls-due-october-report.htmlU.K.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/ftse-treads-water-braces-for-worst-week-since-february-2018-idUKKBN1WJ0OMEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/european-shares-higher-on-hopes-of-fed-action-chip-stocks-gain-on-apple-report-idUSKBN1WJ0PRAsia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-quiet-ahead-of-us-jobs-report-2019-10-03/printBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/04/treasury-yields-cautious-ahead-of-nonfarm-payrolls.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/04/forex-markets-us-economy-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/04/oil-markets-global-economy-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/goldCuirrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
