US equity markets demonstrated a positive outlook before the opening bell on Friday, as traders positioned themselves ahead of the highly anticipated national employment situation report for September. The Standard & Poor's 500 index saw an increase of 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded a modest rise of 0.1% during premarket trading.
Notably, the majority of Asian exchanges and European markets also experienced upward trends. Scheduled for release at 8:30 am ET, the jobs report is expected to reveal nonfarm payroll growth of 150,000 for September, signaling an acceleration from last month's reported gain of 142,000, as per a consensus gathered by Bloomberg. Additionally, the economic calendar for Friday includes the weekly Baker Hughes domestic oil-and-gas rig count, which is set to be published at 1 pm.
In another notable event, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, John Williams, is slated to give a speech at 9 am. In corporate news, shares of Spirit Airlines saw a sharp decline of 39% before the opening bell, following reports indicating that the budget airline was in discussions with bondholders regarding a possible bankruptcy filing.
On a different note, EVgo experienced a decrease of 0.8% after an impressive surge of 61% at the previous day's close, following the news that the company received a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.05 billion from the Department of Energy. Apogee Enterprises is expected to unveil its latest financial results early on Friday. Before the opening bell rang, Bitcoin experienced a slight uptick of 0.8%, trading at $61,334.
Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil advanced by 1.6% to $74.92 per barrel. Yields on 10-year Treasury bonds inched up by 1.1 basis points, nearing 3.86%, while gold prices increased marginally by less than 0.1%, reaching $2,680 an ounce. Market enthusiasts were keenly observing several key assets: $US30, $US500, $SAVE, $EVGO, and $APOG..