Futures Point To Lower Open For Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report for November will be the major highlight on Friday. Early cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower. Asian shares finished in the negative zone, while European shares are trading down. As of 7.10 am ET, the Dow futures were down 49.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 5.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 24.50 points.

The U.S. major averages ended Thursday's session mixed. While the Nasdaq crept up 14.45 points or 0.1 percent to 11,482.45, the Dow slid 194.76 points or 0.6 percent to 34,395.01 and the S&P 500 edged down 3.54 points or 0.1 percent to 4,076.57.

On the economic front, the Labor Department's Employment Situation report for November will be released at 8.30 am ET. The non-farm payroll consensus is 200,000, while it was up 261,000 in the prior month. The unemployment rate is expected to be 3.7 percent, while it was up 3.7 percent in October. The consensus for private payrolls is 200,000, while it was up 233,000 in October. The Baker Hughes North American rig count that tracks weekly changes will be published at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North American rig count was 978 and the U.S. rig count was 784.

Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin will speak on Is a Labor Challenge Coming? before the 2022 Virginia Economic Summit and Forum on International Trade at 8.30 am ET.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans will speak before the event, Kaufman Center for Financial and Policy Studies: The Role & Effectiveness of Financial Regulation at 10.15 am ET. Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans will give welcome remarks before hybrid 36th Annual Economic Outlook Symposium hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago at 1.00 pm ET.

Asian stocks fell on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.29 percent to 3,156.14. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 0.33 percent to 18,675.35.

Japanese shares tumbled to hit a three-week low. The Nikkei average fell 1.59 percent to 27,777.90. The broader Topix index closed 1.64 percent lower at 1,953.98. Australian markets ended notably lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.72 percent to 7,301.50, dragged down by financials and energy stocks. The broader All Ordinaries index shed 0.67 percent to 7,503.50.

European shares are trading mostly lower. CAC 40 of France is down 11.93 points or 0.18 percent. DAX of Germany is adding 41.68 points or 0.29 percent. FTSE 100 of England is declining 15.15 points or 0.20 percent. The Swiss Market Index is down 21.43 points or 0.19 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.061 percent.