By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening in mixed fashion Friday, with the technology-dominated Nasdaq index outpeforming after strong earnings from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Snap (NYSE:SNAP) and Pinterest (NYSE:PINS), ahead of the monthly jobs report.
At 7 AM ET (1200 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 180 points, or 0.5%, S&P 500 Futures traded 10 points, or 0.2%, lower, while Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 50 points, or 0.4%.
The importance of the so-called FAANG stocks on market sentiment has been amply illustrated this week - Alphabet’s strong fourth quarter pushed markets higher on Wednesday, before Meta Platforms’ limp guidance prompted sharp selling on Thursday. It’s Amazon’s turn today.
Amazon’s stock traded more than 11% higher in premarket trading after the multinational technology company released better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings after the close Thursday, underpinned by strong Cloud growth and a hefty one-off gain from its stake in electric van manufacturer Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN).
Amazon also reported ad revenue of $9.7 billion for the fourth quarter, up 32% from last year, and $31 billion for the year - more than Google’s YouTube.
Amazon wasn’t the only tech stock to offer up well-received earnings late Thursday, Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) stock gained over 14% premarket and Snap (NYSE:SNAP) stock soared almost 50%.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed more than 500 points, or 1.5%, lower on Thursday, the broad-based S&P 500 dropped 2.4% and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 3.7%, its weakest daily performance since September 2020.
Other earnings are due from the likes of drugmakers Bristol Myers (NYSE:BMY) and Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN), while Royal Caribbean 's (NYSE:RCL) numbers should make for an interesting read-through to the travel sector and its projected recovery.
Ford (NYSE:F) will also be in focus after the auto giant blamed supply shortages of key inputs for holding back its fourth-quarter earnings, while bleach manufacturer Clorox (NYSE:CLX) pointed to rising costs for its disappointing outlook.
Away from the corporate sector, the focus will be on the official jobs report, at 8:30 AM ET (1330 GMT), with analysts starting the week expecting 150,000 new jobs to have been created in January.
However, Wednesday’s weak ADP report, with just over 300,000 jobs lost in January and initial jobless claims below expectations on Thursday mean a poor Omicron-influenced number is being factored in.
Oil prices climbed Friday as winter weather swept across large areas of the U.S., threatening to disrupt crude supplies in the largest energy consumer in the world.
Crude is heading for a seventh consecutive weekly gain, with the market also supported by the ongoing standoff on Ukraine, and the conflict in Yemen.
By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 2.1% higher at $92.19 a barrel, passing $90 for the first time since 2014, while the Brent contract rose 2% to $92.97.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,811.25/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.1475.