U.S. stock futures pared earlier losses and advanced on Friday after ending in a mixed manner on Thursday. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher.<br /><br />Investors await the September reading of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the PCE price index, a marquee event delayed by the recent government shutdown.<br /><br />Streaming giant Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) said on Friday it will acquire HBO owner Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) in a deal valued at about $82.7 billion.<br /><br />Meanwhile, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, U.S. job cuts fell 53% month-over-month in November, but the total of 71,321 remained 24% higher than a year ago, reflecting a cautious labor market grappling with soft demand, tariff pressures, and rising costs.<br /><br />The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.11% and the two-year bond was at 3.53%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing an 87% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates during its December meeting.<br /><br />The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Friday. The SPY was up 0.24% at $686.03, while the QQQ advanced 0.34% to $625.05, according to Benzinga Pro data.
