Peter Nurse   

Investing.com – U.S. stocks are seen opening marginally higher Friday, ahead of the release of the key monthly employment report which could influence the Federal Reserve’s thinking over the future path of interest rates.

At 7:15 AM ET (1155 GMT), the contract had traded 39 points higher or 0.1%. It was trading 11 points higher or 0.2% more, and climbing 37 points or 0.2%.

All three major indexes have a good week thanks to solid corporate earnings. Blue chip has risen 0.9%, broad-based 1.6% and tech heavy 2.9% respectively.

Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman, said that this week’s tone was helped by Powell’s statement that it is important for the central banking to be patient before increasing interest rates. Even after the announcement of a reduction in bond purchases, Powell also stated the importance of patience.

Powell stated that the bank’s policymakers are looking to improve the labor market and added that the summer wave of infection from the Delta Covid variant had disrupted an already robust rate of recovery.

The official October jobs report is based on this backdrop. This comes just a few days following a strong start and then a new low.

According to economists, the U.S. will see a 450,000 increase in employment in October after a 194,000 increase in September. But variables such as earnings growth, labor force participation, and earnings growth will all be carefully considered.

Peloton stock (NASDAQ:) slumped more than 30% premarket following a $1 billion reduction in its annual guidance. Pfizer (NYSE) Stock surged by almost 9% due to strong results from the drugmaker for Covid-19, which is a combination of a commonly-used HIV drug and its Covid-19 pills. 

Uber (NYSE) is also in the news after it reported its first profit quarter adjusted since its inception more than 10 years ago. However, Didi suffered a huge drop in its value, resulting in a net loss of $2.4 billion in its third quarter.

Friday saw crude oil prices rise after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies announced a monthly increase of 400,000 barrels per day. This was in response to President Joe Biden’s calls for an even greater increase.

Futures were trading 0.8% higher at $79.47 per barrel by 7:45 AM ET while contract prices rose 0.5% to $80.90

Brent still faces a drop of almost 4% for the week. This is its second consecutive weekly decline. The U.S. is on track for an almost 5% decline in oil this week.

Also, the price rose 0.1%, to $1,795.90/oz. However, it traded flat at 1.1551.