Opening Comment — Friday, May 08, 2026
DJIA: 49,596.97, down 313.62
S&P 500: 7,337.11, down 28.01
NASDAQ: 25,806.20, down 32.74
Stocks higher before jobs report
Stock futures are higher Friday morning as markets assess ongoing developments in the Iran war. Investors are also looking forward to today’s jobs report for April and the preliminary May Survey of Consumers from the University of Michigan. As of 7:24 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.3%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.7% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Thursday as preliminary first-quarter nonfarm productivity decelerated to 0.8% quarter-over-quarter, coming in slightly better than expected, while unit labor costs eased more than anticipated to an annualized 2.3%. Initial jobless claims picked up, though continuing claims for the week prior fell. Consumer credit registered a greater-than-expected increase in March, rising by $24.86 billion, following a downward revision of February’s increase to $8.85 billion. The Dow was down 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.4% with nine of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Communication Services sector was the top performer, rising 0.1%, while the Materials sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.8%.
Technical Analysis:
As of midday Thursday, the trend for the S&P 500 is higher. Resistance is hard to pinpoint, and support is at the 50-day and 200-day moving averages of 6,854 and 6,748, respectively.
On the data front, April’s nonfarm payrolls are expected to expand by 65,000 versus the prior month’s 178,000, while manufacturing payrolls are projected to rise 3,000 compared to the prior month’s increase of 15,000. The unemployment rate is expected to remain steady at 4.3%, while the labor force participation rate is also projected to hold steady at 61.9%. Average hourly earnings are projected to rise 0.3% month-over-month (MOM) and 3.8% year-over-year (YOY), accelerating from the prior month’s increases of 0.2% and 3.5%, respectively. The University of Michigan’s preliminary May reading of consumer sentiment is forecasted to come in at 49.5, lower than the prior month’s 49.8. The one- and 5-10-year inflation expectations for May from the University of Michigan are expected to come in at 4.8% and 3.5%, respectively, compared to the prior month’s 4.7% and 3.5%, respectively. The finalized March reading of wholesale inventories is expected to show an increase of 1.4% MOM, similar to the initial reading, while March’s wholesale trade sales is expected to come in at 1.8% MOM versus the prior month’s increase of 2.7%.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly lower in mid-day trading as Germany’s industrial production fell by 0.7% MOM in March, missing expectations for an increase, while the YOY reading declined more than anticipated to 2.8%. The country’s trade surplus narrowed more than expected in March, as exports unexpectedly increased, and imports rose more than projected.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly lower as Japan’s labor cash earnings showed a smaller-than-forecasted increase of 2.7% YOY in March. The country’s finalized April composite and services purchasing managers’ indexes from S&P Global were revised slightly lower to 52.2 and 51.0, respectively.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly lower ahead of the U.S. jobs report data release.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.2% lower at $94.63/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.8% higher at $4,721.16/ounce following a weakening U.S. dollar.