Stocks Head for Worst Week Since October

Stock futures fell Friday, putting equities on pace to add to their weekly declines as oil price spike, while traders awaited new U.S. jobs data.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials slumped 229 points, or 0.5%, to 47,759.

Futures for the S&P 500 index slipped 38.25 points, or 0.6%, to 6,797.

Futures for the NASDAQ dropped 190.25 points, or 0.8%. to 24,857.25.

West Texas Intermediate futures broke above $86 per barrel, hitting its highest level since April 2024. International Brent crude also reached levels not seen in nearly two years, trading above $89 per barrel, as investors weighed the impact of the U.S.-Iran war on global energy supply.

Shares of Royal Caribbean, which has fallen more than 9% this week amid increasing fuel costs, fell again on Friday, dropping nearly 2% in the premarket. Caterpillar shares, which have also suffered this week, were down around 1%. Retailers Walmart and Costco were marginally lower on fears that higher gas prices would hit consumers.

Friday brings traders a new market catalyst in the form of February’s non-farm payrolls, due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones are looking for growth of 50,000 jobs, down from the 130,000 payrolls added in January. They also expect the unemployment rate to hold steady at 4.3%.

This week, the S&P 500 is on pace to lose 0.7%, while the 30-stock Dow has fallen 2.1%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ has outperformed, heading for a gain of about 0.4%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.6%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng popped 1.7%.

Oil prices hiked $4.78 to $85.79 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices improved $18.40 to $5,097.10 U.S an ounce.