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Hiring in the U.S. public and private sector is expected to have
remained flat at 178,000 in December, a report from the Labor
Department at 8:30 a.m. ET (1330 GMT) is likely to show.
Federal Reserve policymakers had agreed that President-elect
Donald Trump's fiscal stimulus measures could prompt a faster
rate of interest rate hikes than previously anticipated,
according to the minutes of its December meeting released on
Wednesday.
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and his Dallas counterpart
Robert Kaplan are scheduled to speak at separate events on
Friday and could provide their take the outlook for interest
rate hikes.
Traders see a more than 70 percent chance of at least three rate
hikes this year, according to Thomson Reuters data. Strong
nonfarm payrolls data could increase those bets.
Even with a brightening economic outlook, investors are now
looking for further evidence to buy into a market that some
analysts say could be poised for a correction.
The S&P 500 is trading at 17.5 times forward 12-month earnings,
well above the 10-year median of 14.7 times, according to
Thomson Reuters data.
Still, the Nasdaq Composite index <.IXIC> managed to close at a
record high driven by gains in Amazon.com <AMZN.O>. The S&P 500
and the Dow Jones Industrial Average marked their first down day
for the year.
Amgen's <AMGN.O> shares rose 4.6 percent premarket after a U.S.
district judge blocked Sanofi <SASY.PA> and Regeneron <REGN.O>
from selling their cholesterol drug, which Amgen said infringed
its patents. Regeneron dropped 7.1 percent to $353.
Gap <GPS.N> rose 8.6 percent to $25.25 after the apparel
retailer posted a surprise rise in December comparable store
sales and said it expected 2016 profit to be above the higher
end of forecast.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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