Stock futures rally again after Thursday's selling
The S&P is on pace for a second straight weekly loss
U.S. equity futures are higher ahead of the final trading day of the week.
The major futures indexes are suggesting a gain of 0.7% when the Friday session begins on Wall Street.
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It is a rebound of sorts following another down day.
The selling followed a batch of new economic data on jobs and wholesale prices. The government said 884,000 workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. The number was flat from last week’s number, which was revised higher, and it’s the lowest it’s been since the number of layoffs began exploding in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to say that consumer prices rose 0.3% in August, half the monthly increase in July. On a year/year basis watch for prices to increase 1.2%, up from July’s 1% rise.
ANOTHER 884,000 AMERICANS FILED FOR UNEMPLOYMENT AID LAST WEEK
In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei recouped early losses to rise 0.7%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.8% and China's Shanghai Composite added 0.8%.
In Europe, London's FTSE is adding 0.2%, Germany's DAX is declining by 0.6% and France's CAC was off 0.5%.
The latest gyrations on Wall Street followed a wild stretch where the S&P 500 careened from its worst three-day slump since June to its best day in nearly three months.
The selling came as the odds lengthen that Congress will deliver more aid to the economy before November’s elections, support that many investors say is crucial after federal unemployment benefits and other stimulus expired. Partisan disagreements on Capitol Hill have kept Congress at a seeming impasse.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 39542.26 | +154.50 | +0.39% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5229.12 | +15.04 | +0.29% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 16375.323895 | +29.06 | +0.18% |
The S&P 500 fell 1.8% to 3,339.19, its fourth decline in five days. The index is on pace for its second straight weekly loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.5%, to 27,534.58. The Nasdaq gave up 2% to 10,919.59.
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Benchmark U.S. crude oil inched higher by 2 cents to $37.32 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the international standard, fell 9 cents to $39.97 a barrel.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.