U.S. Stocks May Open Higher After Senate Passes Debt Ceiling Bill, Jobs Data Beats Estimates

(RTTNews) - Stocks are likely to move to the upside in early trading on Friday, extending the rally seen over the course of the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.5 percent.

The futures held on to earlier gains following the release of a Labor Department report showing U.S. employment surged by much more than expected in the month of May.

The report showed non-farm employment soared by 339,000 jobs in May after spiking by an upwardly revised 294,000 jobs in April.

Economists had expected employment to climb by 190,000 jobs compared to the jump of 253,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent in May from 3.4 percent in April. The unemployment rate was expected to inch up to 3.5 percent.

Stock futures had moved higher earlier in the morning after the Senate voted to pass the bill raising the U.S. debt ceiling late Thursday night.

The Senate voted 63 to 36 in favor of the debt ceiling bill, with 17 Republicans joining with the majority of Democrats to approve the legislation.

Following the House approval of the bill Wednesday night, the bill now heads to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign the legislation later today.

"No one gets everything they want in a negotiation, but make no mistake: this bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the American people," Biden said in a statement following the Senate vote.

The passage of the bill eliminates the threat of a potentially disastrous default by the U.S. government, which had been hanging over the markets in recent weeks.

Stocks showed a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday but moved notably higher over the course of the session. With the upward move on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over nine months.

The major averages pulled back off their highs of the session going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq surged 165.70 points or 1.3 percent to 13,100.98, the S&P 500 jumped 41.10 points or 1.0 percent to 4,221.02 and the Dow climbed 153.30 points or 0.5 percent to 33,061.57.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index shot up by 1.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index soared by 4.0 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has jumped by 1.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are both up by 0.8 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are jumping $1.52 to $71.62 a barrel after surging $2.01 to $70.10 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after climbing $13.40 to $1,995.50 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $2 to $1,993.50 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 139.18 yen versus the 138.80 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0742 compared to yesterday's $1.0762.