Stock futures rise ahead of jobs report, potential tariff ruling: Live updates

Stock futures were modestly higher Thursday night ahead of a key jobs report and a potential U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tariffs.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 81 points, or about 0.2%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.1%, as did Nasdaq 100 futures.

Investors are awaiting two key catalysts on Friday. First, the Supreme Court could issue a ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which could have an impact on trade policy and the nation’s fiscal situation.

“There’s a little bit of wait-and-see approach from the companies before they start restocking on what happens to tariffs,” said Wells Fargo chief equity strategist Ohsung Kwon on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” Thursday. “We have the ruling potentially tomorrow. I think after that, the companies might start to restock again, and that’s gonna kickstart the manufacturing cycle.”

Second, the December jobs report will be out on Friday morning, and it’s expected to show modest improvement. Nonfarm payrolls likely grew by 73,000 last month, while the unemployment rate inched down to 4.5%, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.

Separately, investors will watch for developments on Trump’s directive “to his Representatives” to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds, which he claimed will drive rates and monthly payments down.

In regular trading Thursday, investors rotated away from tech stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed the day lower by 0.4%, dragged down by losses in Nvidia, Palantir and Broadcom. The 30-stock Dow added 270 points, or about 0.6%. The S&P 500 ended the session marginally higher.

Stocks remain on track for a winning week. The S&P 500 is up about 0.9% week to date, while the Dow and Nasdaq have jumped roughly 1.8% and 1.1%, respectively.