Jobs Day

What’s in Today’s Report:

• Omicron Update
• OPEC Meeting Takeways

Futures are slightly lower as markets digest Thursday’s rally ahead of the jobs report.

In Washington, the Senate passed a bill to avoid a government shutdown, removing a potential risk from markets.

The Omicron variant has been detected in five states now but symptoms so far appear mild.

Economically, EU and UK Composite PMIs generally met expectations.

Today focus will be on the Job Report and expectations are as follows: Job Adds 543K, UE Rate 4.5%, and Wages 5.0% y/y.  As long as the jobs report is around expectations (so not above 700k but still showing solid job additions with wages not spiking) then markets will expect a mild acceleration of tapering and the rally can continue.   We also get the ISM Services PMI (E: 65.0) and markets will be looking for a similarly “Just Right” number to show solid growth but nothing so strong it would encourage the Fed to substantially accelerate tapering of QE.