Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures climb as Wall Street braces for jobs report

US stock futures edged higher on Wednesday as investors waited for the long-awaited January jobs report to help set expectations for interest-rate cuts.

Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) and on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) both climbed 0.2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) also rose 0.2%, coming off a third straight day of record closes.

Investors are focused on the “Super Bowl of jobs reports“: the January employment update from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The nonfarm payrolls report is scheduled for release after being postponed by last month’s partial government shutdown. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimate a median gain of about 68,000 jobs while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.4%.

Traders anticipate a subdued reading, with the administration preparing for disappointment. Trump’s trade counselor Peter Navarro told Fox News that “We have to revise our expectations down significantly for what a monthly job number should look like”.

A disappointing jobs report could further pressure markets already rattled by soft consumer data released earlier Tuesday. Government reports showed consumer spending was flat in December, falling short of expectations for a 0.4% monthly increase.

Before the bell, earnings season continues with McDonald’s (MCD) and Kraft Heinz (KHC) results in focus for their insight into the state of the American consumer. Eyes are on Cisco’s (CSCO) quarterly report, set for after the market close, as the tech stalwart takes on Nvidia (NVDA) and pitches for Big Tech build-out spending with a new AI networking chip.

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