Forexpros – U.S. stock futures pointed to a sharply higher open on Friday, following the release of globally positive U.S. employment data and a flurry of strong earnings reports, while investors eyed U.S. service sector activity data expected later in the day.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 1.01% jump, S&P 500 futures signaled a 1.14% surge, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 1.37% rally.
Sentiment strengthened after official data showed that the U.S. economy added 163,000 jobs in July, beating expectations for a 100,000 increase and following a revised 64,000 rise the previous month.
The report also showed that the U.S. unemployment rate ticked up unexpectedly to 8.3% in July from 8.2% the previous month. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in July.
Sentiment had broadly weakened on Thursday, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi disappointed markets by not taking immediate action to contain the euro zone debt crisis.
Financial stocks were expected to be active, following a surge in European lenders. In pre-market trade, Citigroup rallied 1.80% and Bank of America climbed 1.53%.
Meanwhile, AIG reported higher-than-expected second quarter profit, thanks to improvements in its insurance operations, sending shares up 0.10% in early trading.
Also among earnings, Procter & Gamble was likely to be in focus, after reporting fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates, helped by price increases.
Kraft Foods saw shares soar 2.29% in early trading, after saying that it earned 68 cents per share for the second quarter, two cents above estimates, while revenue fell short of estimates.
In the auto sector, Toyota rallied 4.48% in pre-market trade, after reporting a rebound in production and sales in North America and Japan, with a quarterly operating profit of USD4.51 billion.
Elsewhere, CBS reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit, on strong results from its cable networks and an increase in profit margins.
On the downside, Viacom shares plunged 3.88% as the mass media firm reported lower-than-estimated profit for the fiscal third quarter, citing weaker ad sales and a steep fall big in movie studio results.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The EURO STOXX 50 soared 3.12%, France’s CAC 40 rallied 2.85%, Germany’s DAX surged 2.54%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.72%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index deged down 0.12%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 1.13%.
Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management was also to publish a report on non-manufacturing activity.
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