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US stock futures wavered on Friday as Wall Street assessed the crucial monthly jobs report amid market uncertainty driven by President Donald Trump’s volatile trade policy.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) were down 0.3%, while S&P 500 futures (ES=F) lost 0.2%. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq (NQ=F) hovered below the flatline after closing in correction territory on Thursday.
US nonfarm-payrolls add 151,000 jobs last month, slightly less than the 160,000 expected by economists while the unemployment rate ticked up from 4% to 4.1%. The stakes were high for February’s job report as stocks flounder amid fears of weakening economic growth. Downbeat economic data has boosted bets on interest rate cuts this year.
Markets are also looking to Chair Jerome Powell to throw some light on the Federal Reserve’s thinking on Trump’s tariffs and the risk of stagflation when he speaks on Friday. His comments will be among the last from Fed officials before their March 18-19 policy meeting.
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Trade-war worries are still keeping markets on edge. Trump paused tariffs on most goods from Mexico and Canada until April, but the news didn’t provide any relief for stocks on Thursday. Canada responded with a matching delay in its second wave of retaliatory duties, while Mexico has yet to react. However, Mexico has begun reviewing its China tariffs, which could prove a win with Trump.
Read more: Trump pauses tariffs on most imports from Mexico, Canada
Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell below $90,000 after Trump authorized the creation of a strategic US bitcoin reserve ahead of his “crypto summit” on Friday.
On the earnings front, Broadcom’s stock (AVGO) jumped in premarket after the US chipmaker issued a strong second quarter forecast, seen as a positive sign for AI demand.
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February jobs report: US labor market adds 151,000 jobs, unemployment rate ticks up to 4.1%
The US labor market added fewer jobs than forecast in February while the unemployment rate ticked higher amid increasing investor fears over the trajectory of the economy.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed 151,000 new jobs were created in February, less than the 160,000 expected by economists and higher than the 125,000 seen in January. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1% from 4% in the prior month. January’s monthly job gains were revised lower from a previous reading of 143,000.
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Walgreens stock pops as retailer nails its exit from market
Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) shares jumped almost 7% before the bell on news the drugstore giant is preparing to exit the public markets.
The company has sealed its go-private deal with Sycamore, worth up to $23.7 billion, following months of negotiations with the PE firm.
Yahoo Finance’s Anjalee Khemlani reports:
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It’s retailers’ turn to be ‘resilient’: Morning Brief
In recent weeks, retailers Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY), and, most recently, Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) have spooked investors after they warned about profit pressures and price hikes resulting from tariffs.
Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban writes in the Morning Brief:
Read more here or sign up to receive the Morning Brief newsletter straight to your inbox.
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Broadcom stock jumps as outlook eases AI worries
Shares of Broadcom (AVGO) rose over 11% in premarket trading, set for a rebound as investors welcomed the US chipmaker’s strong second quarter sales forecast.
The Apple supplier’s outlook helped revive some faith in Big Tech demand for AI chips after rival Marvell’s (MRVL) downbeat earnings helped drive losses among semiconductor stocks on Thursday.
“Given the anxiety about AI conditions in general, these results should come as a relief,” Morgan Stanley analysts said, per Reuters.
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Jobs report expected to show hiring uptick, unemployment steady
Yahoo Finance’s Josh Schafer reports:
The February jobs report is expected to show hiring picked up in February, while the unemployment rate held steady. This comes at a crucial moment for markets as stocks have recently been floundering amid fears about economic growth weakening in the US.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report is slated for release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Economists expect nonfarm payrolls to have risen by 160,000 in February, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4%, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
With markets in a slump — amid a string of weaker-than-expected economic growth data — Citi head of US equity trading strategy Stuart Kaiser told Yahoo Finance that Friday’s jobs report is a “pretty significant risk to the market.”
“A good jobs print helps, but it’s probably not enough to sort things out,” Kaiser said. “And if you got a weak print, let’s say below 125,000 jobs [added], or in particular, if the unemployment rate rose, I think you would have a pretty big pullback in US equities in response to that.”
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Trump establishes strategic bitcoin reserve signed order
White House crypto czar David Sacks said in a post on X that U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve.
The reserve will be initially funded with bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. The US government is estimated to own around 200,000 bitcoin, with a full audit of its holdings mandated.
David Sacks tweet:
