US stock futures edged higher Tuesday night as investors braced for the long-awaited January employment report after the Dow hit a third straight day of record closes.
Futures linked to the S&P 500 (ES=F) climbed 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ=F) added 0.2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) rose roughly 0.1%.
Investors are focused on the “Super Bowl of jobs reports“: the January nonfarm payrolls report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report is scheduled for release after being postponed by last month’s partial government shutdown. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimate a median gain of about 68,000 jobs while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.4%.
Traders anticipate a subdued reading, with the administration preparing for disappointment. Trump’s trade counselor Peter Navarro told Fox News that “We have to revise our expectations down significantly for what a monthly job number should look like”.
A disappointing jobs report could further pressure markets already rattled by soft consumer data released earlier Tuesday. Government reports showed consumer spending was flat in December, falling short of expectations for a 0.4% monthly increase.
During the regular session, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) slid 0.3% as concerns about artificial intelligence disrupting parts of the financial sector weighed on sentiment. Shares of several financial services firms dropped after investment platform Altruist Corp. introduced a new AI-driven tax planning tool. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) declined about 0.6%, while the Dow (^DJI) bucked the trend, rising 0.1% to post another record close.
Looking ahead, earnings season continues with McDonald’s (MCD), Kraft Heinz (KHC), and Cisco (CSCO) all releasing reports on Thursday. Economic data releases will also be in focus, including Friday’s release of the consumer price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation.
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Stock market coverage for Wednesday, February 11, 2026.
