Futures inch up after Trump comments; November jobs data eyed

[December 06, 2019]  By Shreyashi Sanyal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Friday as comments from President Donald Trump that trade talks with China were "moving right along" helped set a calmer tone ahead of the Labor Department's much anticipated monthly jobs report.

Trump's remarks around the discussions came after Chinese officials reiterated their stance that some U.S. tariffs must be rolled back for a phase one deal.

Supporting the mood further was a positive gesture from China after it said it will waive import tariffs for some soybeans and pork shipments from the United States.

All eyes are now on non-farm payrolls data due at 8:30 a.m. ET, which will allow investors to gauge the strength of the domestic labor market. The data is expected to show U.S. employers added 180,000 jobs last month, higher than 128,000 additions in October.

Domestic job growth likely accelerated in November as former striking workers returned to General Motors' <GM.N> payrolls, which would confirm that the economy remained on a moderate expansion path despite a prolonged manufacturing slump.

Later in the day, the preliminary number for University of Michigan surveys of consumers sentiment for December is expected to be 97, up from 96.8 last month.

Wall Street has had a tumultuous run through the week with every new headline on the U.S.-China trade war. All of the main indexes are now set to log weekly losses of around 1% each.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., December 5, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

At 7:08 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were up 70 points, or 0.25%. S&P 500 e-minis <EScv1> were up 7.5 points, or 0.24% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQcv1> were up 31.5 points, or 0.38%.

Among stocks, Uber Technologies Inc <UBER.N> fell 1.4% in premarket trading after it said it received over 3,000 reports of sexual assault related to its 1.3 billion rides in the United States last year.

Ulta Beauty Inc <ULTA.O> jumped 9.4% after the cosmetics retailer beat quarterly profit expectations.

Tesla Inc <TSLA.O> rose 1.5% after the electric vehicle maker said its Chinese-built Model 3 cars would receive state subsidies.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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