U.S. stocks look set to open in the green on Friday, with futures of the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices rising, following Thursday’s higher close.

Ahead of Friday’s opening bell, investors are focused on the upcoming September jobs report, with nonfarm payrolls projected to rise by 90,000 and the unemployment rate expected to hold steady at 4.1%, as per FactSet. If met, the payroll gain would mark a slowdown from August’s 162,000 increase while remaining comfortably above the 12-month average of 50,300.

The Donald Trump administration escalated “Operation Economic Outcast” by imposing sanctions on Iran’s land transportation sector, directly targeting auto giants IKCO and SAIPA alongside the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 5.24%, and the 2-year Treasury bond yielded 4.79%, at the last check. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing in a 23.8% likelihood of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates after its October meeting.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Friday. The SPY was up 0.52% at $767.99, while the QQQ advanced 0.86% to $748.4.

Stocks In Focus

Nike

• Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE) plunged over 10.2% in premarket trading on Friday after reporting mixed first-quarter financial results.
• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that NKE maintains a weak price trend in the long, short, and medium terms, with a poor quality score.

Synaptics

• Synaptics Inc. (NASDAQ:SYNA) surged 14.45% in Friday premarket after the company announced it will be acquired by ON Semiconductor Corp (NASDAQ:ON) for $123 per share under the revised agreement.
• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that SYNA maintains a strong price trend in the long term but a weak trend in the short and medium terms.

AsiaStrategy

• AsiaStrategy (NASDAQ:SORA) was 7.5% higher after it disclosed that it signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Plume to advance real-world asset tokenization across Asia.
• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that SORA maintains a strong price trend in the short and medium terms but a weak trend in the long term.

Mangoceuticals

• Mangoceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MGRX) plunged 10.28% in Friday premarket after it announced its former subsidiary secured a $2.5 million strategic investment.
• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MGRX maintains a weak price trend in the short and long terms but a strong trend in the medium term.

Corteva

• $Corteva Inc(CTVA-W)$. (NYSE:CTVA) declined by 1.03% after it spun out its seeds and genetics company, Vylor Inc.
• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that CTVA maintains a weak price trend in the long, short, and medium terms, with a poor growth score.

Cues From Last Session

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with health care, communication services, and real estate stocks recording the biggest losses on Thursday, while energy and industrials stocks closed the session higher.

Insights From Analysts

According to Alex Sagal, Global Equity Analyst at Wells Fargo, the U.S. economy is navigating “stronger currents” driven by resilient economic growth, persistent inflation, and elevated borrowing costs. Higher interest rates create challenges for borrowers, but Sagal notes that for equities, “higher rates do not automatically sink the market.”

Wells Fargo maintains a favorable view on U.S. large-cap equities. Sagal emphasizes that “resilient earnings, strong balance sheets, pricing power, and continued artificial-intelligence (AI) investment should help companies navigate higher financing costs.” Expanding AI adoption continues to drive demand across computing capacity, networking, electricity, and infrastructure.

In contrast, Sagal holds an unfavorable view on smaller companies, as they carry greater refinancing exposure, weaker profitability, and less capacity to absorb elevated borrowing costs.

Beyond stocks, he highlights that fixed income serves as “useful ballast to support returns when equity markets turn volatile,” while commodities offer effective diversification against persistent inflation and geopolitical uncertainty. Overall, Sagal expects durable earnings and financial flexibility to be key differentiators in this market environment.

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Friday.

• September’s employment report, unemployment rate, and average hourly earnings data will all be released by 8:30 a.m. ET.
• August’s factory orders data will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET, and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan will speak at a macroeconomic workshop.

Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets

Crude Oil WTI futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 3.81% to hover around $89.33 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.11% to hover around $4,181.73 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.18% lower at the 101.91 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 3.40% higher at $86,359 per coin over the last 24 hours.

Asian markets were mixed on Friday, as Australia’s ASX 200, South Korea’s Kospi, and China’s CSI 300 indices rose. India’s Nifty 50, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices fell. European markets were higher in early trading.

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