US futures fall on tech earns as Wall Street eyes jobs data

A security guard is seen next to a road block near the New York Stock exchange, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, in the Financial District. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

A person wearing a protective mask walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Tokyo. Asian shares were trading mixed Friday ahead of a closely watched U.S. jobs report that may affect global interest rates. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person wearing a protective mask walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Tokyo. Asian shares were trading mixed Friday ahead of a closely watched U.S. jobs report that may affect global interest rates. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People wearing a protective mask walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Tokyo. Asian shares were trading mixed Friday ahead of a closely watched U.S. jobs report that may affect global interest rates. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Logos the New York Stock Exchange adorn trading posts, on the floor, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Weaker-than-expected financial performances from some of the country's biggest tech companies dragged U.S. markets lower early Friday ahead of the government's closely-watched jobs report.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.2% while the S&P 500 slipped 0.6%. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 1.1% in off-hour trading after three technology bellweathers — Apple, Amazon and Alphabet — posted lackluster quarterly results after Thursday's close.

Economists expect the U.S. jobs report Friday to show a slowdown in hiring. The job market has been resilient despite big rate hikes by the Federal Reserve over the last year intended to cool hiring and with it, inflation.

Many technologies companies have announced high-profile layoffs recently, but the government's weekly unemployment benefits report Thursday suggested job cuts are not that widespread. Fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected, and the number dropped to its lowest level since April. There are still nearly two available jobs for every unemployed American.

“The key risk event will be today’s U.S. jobs reports, where the pace of payroll additions is expected to cool again, while the unemployment rate is likely to have risen slightly,” said Anderson Alves at ActivTrades.

Stocks have gained since the year began on hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve may soon pause interest rate hikes. Such increases help stamp out inflation but also make borrowing costlier for businesses and households, which slow the economy.

Technology companies had been riding high Thursday, coattailing off Facebook parent Meta, which rose 23% after reporting late Wednesday that its revenue beat Wall Street’s muted expectations and announcing a $40 billion stock buyback.

But after the bell, Apple posted its first quarterly revenue drop in nearly four years, Amazon reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, and Google parent Alphabet reported a 34% decline in profit. The three companies' shares were down between 2.6% and 3.6% a couple hours before the bell Friday.

The tepid tech results and overnight losses dragged most markets in Asia and Europe lower.

At midday, Germany’s DAX tumbled 0.6%, France’s CAC 40 lost 0.2% and Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.2%.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.4% to finish at 27,509.46. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 7,558.10. South Korea's Kospi added 0.5% to 2,480.40. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 1.4% to 21,660.47, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.7% to 3,263.41.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set rates for mortgages and other important loans, fell to 3.40% from 3.42% late Wednesday. The two-year yield, which moves more on expectations for the Fed, held at 4.10%.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 13 cents to $75.75 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 21 cents to $81.96 a barrel in London.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar slipped to 128.43 Japanese yen from 129.67 yen. The euro cost $1.0936, up from $1.0914.

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Kageyama reported from Tokyo; Ott reported from Silver Spring, Md.