Retail sentiment on Stocktwits remained ‘bearish’ on SPY and flipped to ‘bullish’ on QQQ.

  • The three major U.S. indexes are on track for a second consecutive weekly gain. 
  • Investors await August nonfarm payrolls after July unexpectedly showed a loss of 23,000 jobs.
  • The report could fuel debate over whether the Fed holds rates at its September 15-16 meeting or resumes tightening.

U.S. stock futures were slightly higher early Friday as investors geared up for the high-stakes August Nonfarm Payrolls report, an important data point shaping Federal Reserve policy expectations ahead of its September meeting. 

As of 4:30 a.m. ET, Nasdaq futures were up 0.4% while Dow, S&P 500 and Russell 2000 futures were nearly flat. The three major indexes are on track for a second consecutive weekly gain. 

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, remained ‘bearish’, and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, has flipped to ‘bullish’ from ‘bearish’ earlier in the week.

All Eyes On Jobs Data 

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the U.S. economy to have added 53,000 jobs in August, with the unemployment rate forecast at 4.1%. That follows an unexpected loss of 23,000 jobs in July. On Thursday, Fed Governor Christopher Waller signaled he is open to holding rates steady if inflation moderates. But he also said a hike at the Sept. 15-16 meeting could be appropriate if the improvement proves fleeting. Meanwhile, traders remain split on a rate pause compared to a 25 bps hike, according to the latest CME FedWatch data.

Yields on the U.S. 10-year Treasury hovered around 4.768%, cooling slightly alongside a global government bond sell-off that economist Mohamed El-Erian reportedly warned could persist due to structural supply imbalances and reduced appetite from traditional buyers like China and Japan. 

Meanwhile, Brent crude rose toward $96 a barrel amid ongoing Middle East tensions. 

Tech Stocks To Watch 

Nvidia (NVDA): Nvidia shares continued to rise in early premarket, a day after announcing its $12.93 billion deal for Hugging Face, which Michael Burry praised as a “no-brainer” move to secure open-source dominance. 

Microsoft (MSFT): CEO Satya Nadella confirmed Azure customers are already deploying OpenAI’s newly launched flagship model, GPT-6 Astra.

Adobe (ADBE): Shares fell 3% in early premarket trade despite naming insider Anil Chakravarthy as its new CEO ahead of its Q3 earnings report. Retail chatter suggests investors viewed this as a logical move in its ongoing AI transition. Chakravarthy will replace longtime CEO Shantanu Narayen, who will become executive chair. 

Oracle (ORCL): Shares rose over 1% in early premarket trade following an expanded multi-year network equipment agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to deploy HPE/Juniper gear across Oracle’s global AI data centers.

Trending Stocks

Tesla (TSLA): Shares fell over 1% in early premarket trade after launching steering-wheel-free Cybercab rides in Austin. Retail investors expressed frustration over an event blackout, and U.S. safety regulators began evaluating the vehicle’s deployment.

Lululemon Athletica (LULU): Shares cracked 17% in early premarket trade after missing Q2 revenue estimates and severely slashing full-year guidance. Michael Burry noted LULU is his largest position and pledged to buy aggressively under $100.

Rocket Lab (RKLB) & Planet Labs (PL): Rocket Lab gained attention after peer Planet Labs posted a Q2 beat (+10% in early premarket trade) but flagged a SpaceX rideshare crunch as smaller operators seek alternative launch providers.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (RARE): Shares saw a rebound in early premarket after crashing in its worst single day following the Phase 3 trial failure. ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli called the stock "very cheap" and floated a potential buyout by BioMarin.

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included GameStop (GME), UiPath (PATH), Campbell Soup (CPB), Credo Tech (CRDO), and Robinhood (HOOD).

What Else To Watch Friday 

On the economic front, investors will watch the release of the nonfarm payrolls at 8:30 am ET.

On the earnings front, ZenaTech (ZENA) and KNOT Offshore Partners LP (KNOP), among others, report today.

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