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* U.S. job growth slows more than expected in December
* Apple, Qorvo, Skyworks up on positive broker comments
* Easing Iran tensions, trade hope spur risk-on mode
* Futures up: Dow 0.09%, S&P 0.18%, Nasdaq 0.34%
(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Sruthi Shankar
Jan 10 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open slightly
higher on Friday, aided by technology stocks, while
slower-than-expected domestic job growth in December shaved off
some early gains.
A Labor Department report showed nonfarm payrolls increased
by 145,000 jobs last month, below the 164,000 job rise forecast
by economists polled by Reuters. However, the pace of hiring remained more than enough to
keep the longest economic expansion in history on track despite
a deepening downturn in a manufacturing sector stung by trade
disputes.
Friday's report also showed the jobless rate holding near a
50-year low of 3.5% and average hourly earnings rising 0.1% in
the previous month.
"The numbers weren't too far from expectations, consistent
with moderate jobs growth," said Scott Brown, chief economist at
Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.
"We're seeing modest gains in wages and that was probably
the big surprise after you got a downward revision to the
average hourly earnings in both October and November. So no real
pressure for the Fed to raise rates."
Signs that the United States and Iran will stand down on
further military action, and firming hopes that an initial
U.S.-China trade deal will be signed next week have helped U.S.
stocks recover from a blip earlier this week caused by flaring
tensions in the Middle East.
Futures tracking Dow 1YMcv1 were up 26 points, or 0.09% at
9:01 a.m. ET. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 5.75 points, or
0.18% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 30.75 points, or
0.34%.
Technology stocks .SPLRCT , the market leaders of the last
decade, were on track for sharpest gains among the 11 main S&P
sectors in the first full trading week of 2019.
Apple Inc AAPL.O rose 0.4% in premarket trading after
Credit Suisse became the latest brokerage to raise its price
target on the stock, citing better-than-feared iPhone 11 cycle
so far.
Apple suppliers Qorvo Inc QRVO.O and Skyworks Solutions
Inc SWKS.O also gained more than 1.8% each after Mizuho
upgraded both the stocks to "buy" on an improving 5G handset
outlook.
Facebook Inc FB.O was up 0.6% after a report Bernstein
started coverage on the stock with an "outperform" rating.
Nvidia Corp NVDA.O rose 1.5% after Citigroup added the
stock to its "catalyst watch" list.
With the fourth-quarter earnings season set to begin in
earnest next week, analysts expect profits for S&P 500 companies
to drop 0.6% in their second consecutive quarterly decline,
according to IBES data from Refinitiv.