Stocks Rise Pre-Bell Ahead of September Jobs Report

08:13 AM EDT, 10/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US stock futures pointed to a higher open Friday as investors awaited the September jobs report. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% each in premarket activity, while the Nasdaq 100 added 0.8%. The S&P 500 closed higher on Thursday, while the Nasdaq Composite and the Dow were little changed. The government's nonfarm payrolls report for last month is scheduled to be released at 8:30 am ET. The US economy is expected to have added 90,000 jobs last month, compared with a 162,000 gain the month prior, according to a Bloomberg-compiled survey. "Layoffs remain low and big data indicators of job growth rose, but September payroll growth has underperformed its trend when Labor Day is later in the month, like this year," Goldman Sachs said in a note on Thursday. US employers announced 43,281 job cuts in September, the lowest total for the month in four years, data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed on Thursday. The outplacement firm said companies are in a wait-and-see period amid macro uncertainty. Treasury yields were slightly lower, with the two-year rate falling 0.2 basis points to 4.9% and the 10-year rate decreasing 0.4 basis points to 5.23%. The Federal Reserve needs to raise interest rates by at least another 50 basis points, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said on Thursday. "Inflation is falling as transitory factors fade," she said. "But it is trending toward the mid-2's, not all the way to the (Federal Open Market Committee's) 2% goal." She is scheduled to speak again today at 10 am. Markets are currently pricing in a 78% probability that the Fed will leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged this month, with the remaining odds favoring a 25-basis-point hike, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Oil was lower on Friday amid reports that European Union countries are weighing a release of diesel stocks to ease upward pressure on fuel prices in the US. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.8% to $89.33 a barrel, while Brent lost 2.5% to $99.72. Nike (NKE) plunged 10% before the bell after the athletic footwear and apparel company missed revenue estimates for its fiscal first quarter and said it expects sales to decline in the high single-digit range in fiscal 2027. Visibility into the company's potential recovery is limited amid increasing competitive pressures and macro uncertainty, Truist Securities said in a note. Moderna (MRNA) rose about 1.8%, as the company is set to join the Nasdaq 100 index on Oct. 9. Tesla (TSLA) was up about 0.8% ahead of its third-quarter delivery report, while Nvidia (NVDA) gained 1.2%. Spot gold added 0.3% to $4,179.88 per troy ounce.