U.S. stock index futures extended gains on Friday. U.S. job growth picked up in February and the unemployment rate edged up to 4.1%, but growing uncertainty over trade policy and deep federal government spending cuts could erode the labor market's resilience in the months ahead.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 151,000 jobs last month after rising by a downwardly revised 125,000 in January, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its closely watched employment report on Friday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing by 160,000 jobs after a previously reported 143,000 gain in January. Estimates ranged from 30,000 to 300,000 positions.

Market Snapshot

At 8:35 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 69 points, or 0.16%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 15.25 points, or 0.27% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 96.5 points, or 0.48%.

Pre-Market Movers

Broadcom - Broadcom rose 11% after the semiconductor and software posted better-than-expectedfiscal first-quarter earningsand issued strong guidance. Broadcom reported adjusted earnings in the first quarter of $1.60 a share, higher than analysts’ expectations of $1.51. Revenue of $14.92 topped consensus of $14.62 billion. Artificial-intelligence revenue in the quarter was $4.1 billion, up 77% from a year earlier. For the current second quarter, Broadcom anticipates revenue of $14.9 billion compared with expectations of $14.71 billion. CEO Hock Tan said Broadcom’s largest technology customers continue to “invest aggressively” in their next generation AI models. 

Nvidia - Nvidia, the leading maker of AI chips, was up 1.6% in premarket trading after tumbling 5.7% on Thursday. Broadcom’s report could inject some life into the faltering AI trade. Nvidia shares have declined 18% this year.

Chinese ADRs - Chinese ADRs gained again in premarket trading, as optimism grew that China would take more steps to support the nation’s economic growth and technology innovation. XPeng rose 5%; Bilibili rose 4%; Li Auto rose 3%; Alibaba rose 2%.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise - Hewlett Packard Enterprise sank 17.8% after fiscal first-quarter earnings and second-quarter guidance missed Wall Street expectations and the server and cloud-software company said it would begin a cost-cutting program that will reduce its overall headcount by about 5%, or about 2,500 jobs. HPE said it expects second-quarter adjusted earnings of 28 cents to 34 cents a share on revenue of $7.2 billion to $7.6 billion. Analysts expect adjusted earnings of 50 cents on revenue of $7.92 billion. As for the tariffs situation, CEO Antonio Neri told Barron’s that it was a “very fluid, complicated situation, with a lot of moving parts and twists.” The CEO said HPE does a lot of manufacturing in Mexico.

BigBear.ai - BigBear.ai Holdings, an AI-powered decision intelligence solutions provider, saw its shares fall 15% in premarket trading Friday after reporting fourth quarter earnings that missed analyst expectations and issuing weaker-than-expected guidance for 2025.

Gap - Gap was jumping 16.2% after the apparel retailer topped fourth-quarter earnings expectations and delivered stronger-than-expected profit guidance for the current fiscal year. Gap sees total company sales in the fiscal year rising between 1% to 2% versus Wall Street expectations of a 1.7% increase to $15.7 billion. The retailer projects an increase in operating income of between 8% and 10% from $1.1 billion in 2024.

Walgreens Boots Alliance - Walgreens Boots Alliance will be taken private by Sycamore Partners in a $23.7 billion deal. Sycamore will pay $11.45 a share in cash, representing an equity value of around $10 billion. Shareholders also will receive up to $3 in cash per share representing the future sale of the company’s debt and equity interests in VillageMD. The companies expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter. Walgreens rose 6.5% to $11.29 in premarket trading.

Intuitive Machines - Intuitive Machines was tumbling 34.8% after difficulties landing the company’s Athena spaceship near the moon’s south pole on Thursday. The craft touched down around noon Eastern time, but NASA’s broadcast of the landing finished without clear information on the status of the craft.

Serve Robotics - Serve Robotics, an artificial-intelligence-trained autonomous-robot company, reported weaker-than-expected sales for its latest quarter. Shares sank 7% in premarket trading as investors reel from recent losses.

Costco - Fiscal second-quarter earnings at Costco Wholesale, the warehouse retailer, missed analysts’ estimates, sending shares down 1.7% in premarket trading. Costco reported earnings of $4.02 a share, below estimates of $4.09, as revenue of $63.7 billion was slightly better than projections of $63.1 billion. Same-store sales rose 6.8% and beat estimates that called for a 6.4% increase.

Samsara - Samsara shares were down 6% in premarket trading despite the Internet of Things cloud platform provider reporting earnings and revenue beats in its fiscal 2025 fourth quarter.

Market News

Trump Delays Canada, Mexico Tariffs for Goods Under Trade Pact

President Donald Trump exempted Mexican and Canadian goods covered by the North American trade agreement known as USMCA from his 25% tariffs, offering major reprieves to the US’s two largest trading partners.

Trump signed orders Thursday paring back the tariffs, which are related to illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking, until April 2. That is the date when the president is expected to start unveiling plans for so-called reciprocal duties on nations around the world as well as sector-specific duties.

“They’ve been working much harder lately, do you notice that? On people coming in and drugs. We’ve made tremendous progress on both,” Trump said in the Oval Office, referring to Mexico and Canada.

Trump Signs Order to Establish Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, a day before meeting with executives from the cryptocurrency industry at the White House.

The reserve will be capitalized with bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings, the White House crypto czar, billionaire David Sacks, said in a post on social media platform X.

Attendees at Friday's White House crypto summit expect the event to serve as a stage for Trump to formally announce his plans to build a strategic reserve containing bitcoin and four other cryptocurrencies.

SpaceX Starship Rocket Explodes in Second-Straight Setback

SpaceX’s mammoth Starship spun wildly out of control and broke apart during its eighth test flight, another setback for Elon Musk’s company less than two months after its last mission ended with an explosion.

A few minutes after blasting off on Thursday from south Texas, the rocket’s two portions split apart as planned. The Super Heavy booster then returned to Earth, where it was caught midair by the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms.

But then the Starship spacecraft began tumbling as it headed to space roughly eight minutes into flight, and mission control eventually lost contact with the vehicle.