Stock Market Today: Stocks ease from record as jobs report looms

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U.S. equity futures slipped Friday, following on from another record close for the S&P 500, as investors looked to today's key jobs report to cement a dovish series of comments on interest-rate cuts from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Stocks powered to a record for the 17th time this year, supported by yet another firm rally in AI-related chip stocks and testimony from Powell that indicated the central bank is "not far" from having the confidence that inflation is slowing to its 2% target.

Powell's remarks, which came amid two days of appearances on Capitol Hill, pulled Treasury bond yields notably lower and dragged the U.S. dollar index to a six-week trough against its global peers.

Benchmark 10-year note yields were last marked at 4.071%, the lowest in two months, while 2-year notes were pegged at 4.492%.

The moves in both rates and stocks will be tested today, however, by the Labor Department's February employment report, which is expected to show the economy added around 200,000 new jobs last month.

A faster-than-expected reading, including any uptick in average hourly earnings, could extend the time in which the Fed will find the confidence on inflation it's seeking before initiating rate cuts. 

Conversely, a softer reading could signal both broader economic weakness and easing price pressures, both of which could compel the Fed to begin lowering rates in the late spring or sooner.

At present, CME Group's FedWatch suggests little chance of a move on rates in either this month's policy meeting or the following gathering in May. The odds of a June cut are holding at around 56.7%.

On Wall Street, stocks are set for a muted open ahead of the jobs-report release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 suggest a 5-point opening-bell gain while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are indicating a 15-point dip.

The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is set for a 10-point decline, although artificial-intelligence-market leader Nvidia  (NVDA)  is set for another record open and was last marked 3% higher in premarket dealing. 

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 was marked 0.21% higher, after hitting another all-time high earlier in the session, as investors extracted a dovish tone from yesterday's European Central Bank policy meeting.

Overnight in Asia, the regionwide MCSI ex-Japan benchmark was carried to a firm 1.17% gain by last night's rally on Wall Street, while Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.19% to close at 39,688.94 points.

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