U.S. stocks: A cautious move higher as big jobs data looms

U.S. stock futures pointed higher on Friday, but gains were limited as investors waited for all-important nonfarm-payrolls data, which could provide clues for the timing of a potential U.S. rate hike.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMM5, +0.11% rose 27 points to 17,912, while those for the S&P 500 index ESM5, +0.12% added 3.3 points to 2,087.50. Futures for the Nasdaq -100 index NQM5, +0.22% added 11 points to 4,413.25.

Wall Street stocks recovered some of the losses from two previous session on Thursday, thanks to a calming down of global bond markets. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.38% closed up 0.4% to 2,088, with all main sectors except for energy advancing.

Gains for overseas stocks helped inspire some positive momentum for U.S. stock futures. The FTSE 100 index UKX, +1.80% surged on news of an expected election victory in the U.K. for Conservatives.

Friday’s data: The next big catalyst for stocks will come at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time when nonfarm-payrolls data for April is released. After just a 126,000 rise for payrolls in March, anything less than 200,000 gain may be seen as another letdown. A stronger-than-expected weekly jobless claims report out on Thursday fueled some hopes for improved jobs data Friday.