U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat-to-higher open on Wall Street after three consecutive days of strong gains. Investors cheered a better-than-expected jobs report, shedding worries about the downgrade of 12 European banks.
On the economic front, the U.S. Department of Labor said that the economy added 103,000 non-farm jobs in September, much higher than the Wall Street economists' estimate of 59,000 jobs. The report said the unemployment rate remained steady at 9.1 percent, as expected. Hourly earnings for September increased 0.2 percent to $23.12, while the average work week rose by 6 minutes to 34.30 hours.
Ahead of the opening bell, Dow industrial average futures were trading lower by 0.22 percent, or 24 points, to 11,014. Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.33 percent, or 7.25 points, to 2,198. Standard and Poor's 500 futures were trading lower by 0.22 percent, or 2.50 points, to 1,155.
Hot Stocks of the Day: ILMN, SREV, WYNN, MASC
Shares of Illumina Inc. (Nasdaq: ILMN) were trading sharply lower by 28.70 percent to $28.47 in pre-market trading Friday. On late Thursday, the company said it expects to report third-quarter revenue of about $235 million, an amount that Jay Flatley, president and CEO, said left management "highly disappointed."
ServiceSource International Inc. (Nasdaq: SREV) on Thursday raised its third-quarter revenue forecast. The company, a provider of revenue-management technology, had previously projected a loss of $4.5 million to $5 million, with break-even or a loss of $0.1 per share. The stock is trading lower by 15.35 percent to $14.88 in pre-market trading on Friday.
Shares of Wynn Resorts Ltd. (Nasdaq: WYNN) were trading higher by 1.67 percent to $134.80 after analyst at Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutralbased on a "compelling" valuation for the casino operator. Analysts noted that Wynn shares have fallen 20 percent since their July highs. "We think the recent pullback gives investors an opportunity to buy the preeminent, high-end gaming brand at a more reasonable multiple," analysts said.
Material Sciences Corp. (Nasdaq: MASC) today reported second quarter FY 2012 net sales of $34.40 million, up 3.9 percent from $33.1 million in the second quarter FY 2011. Net income for the quarter was $3 million, or $0.26 per share, compared with $3.9 million, or $0.31 per share in the comparable quarter last year. MASC was trading higher by 16.37 percent to $7.89 in pre-market trading Friday.
Global Markets: FTSE, CAC40, DAX, Nikkei 225, Straits Times, Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite Index, BSE 30
Asian markets closed mostly higher today. Singapore's Straits Times closed higher by 1.43 percent, or 37.18 points, to 2,640.30; Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 0.98 percent, or 83.60 points, to 8,605.62; Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up 3.11 percent, or 534.73 points, to 17,707.01; and India's BSE 30 closed with gains of 2.79 percent, or 440.13 points, to 16,232.54. China's Shanghai Composite remained closed Friday.
The European indexes were trading lower on mid-day Friday. Britain's FTSE 100 was trading lower by 0.11 percent, or 5.71 points, to 5,285.55; Germany's DAX was trading lower by 0.08 percent, or 4.62 points, to 5,640.63; and France's CAC40 was trading down by 0.23 percent, or 7.20 points, to 3,068.17.
Oil falls to near $82 mark ahead of key data
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil was trading lower by 0.38 points, or 0.46 percent, to $82.21 per barrel. Gold stood at 1,656.20, up 4.30 points, or 0.26 percent on Friday.
In the currency market, the euro was trading higher by 0.05 percent to 1.3436 against the U.S. dollar. The dollar was trading lower at ¥76.6450, down 0.05 percent against Japanese yen. The British pound is trading higher by 0.67 percent to $1.5540 against the dollar on Friday.
On Thursday, Wall Street closed higher. The Dow Jones industrial average closed with gains of 1.68 percent, or 183.38 points, to settle at 11,123.33; Standard & Poor's 500 ended higher by 1.83 percent, or 20.93 points, to 1,164.97; and the Nasdaq ended higher by 1.88 percent, or 46.31 points to 2,506.82.