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Stock futures rose slightly in early trading Friday ahead of the November jobs report as the market nears the end of a roller-coaster week driven by COVID omicron variant developments.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials forged ahead 66 points or 0.2%, to 34,688.
Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 8.75 points, or 0.2%, to 4,584.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ added 42.5 points, or 0.3%, to 16,031.
The U.S. Labor Department said the domestic economy created far fewer jobs than expected in November, before a new COVID threat created a scare that growth could slow into the winter.
Non-farm payrolls increased by just 210,000 for the month, though the unemployment rate fell sharply to 4.2%. The Dow Jones estimate was for 573,000 new jobs and a jobless level of 4.5%.
Stocks tied closely to the virus have led the market on its week-long seesaw, and that continued Friday. Companies that benefit from the economic expansion, such as hotels and airlines, led losers, while vaccine leader Moderna was among the biggest gainers, with its shares rising 6% in premarket trading.
Hilton Worldwide was off 1.4% and Delta Air Lines fell 1.2% pre-market.
The omicron variant has now been detected in five U.S. states, with symptoms so far reported as mild.
Elsewhere in markets, Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi announced during Asia trading hours on Friday that it will start delisting from the New York Stock Exchange and make plans to list in Hong Kong instead. Shares fell 4% in premarket trading.
Overseas, markets in Japan gained 1% Friday, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong docked 0.1%.
Oil prices shot up $1.83 to $68.33 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $12.90 to $1,775.60 U.S. an ounce.
