09:20 AM EDT, 05/02/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were higher pre-bell Friday as traders digested the April employment report.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 1.1%, S&P 500 futures increased 1.2%, and Nasdaq futures were up 1.2%.

Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 0.3% at $61.95 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 0.3% lower at $59.06 per barrel.

The April employment report, released at 8:30 am ET, showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 177,000, following a 185,000 increase in the preceding month and compared with estimates compiled by Bloomberg for a smaller 138,000 gain. The unemployment rate came in unchanged for the month at 4.2%, in line with estimates.

US factory orders, due at 10 am ET, is expected to show a 4.4% increase for March following a 0.6% uptick in February.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei ended 1% higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished 1.7% higher. UK's FTSE 100 gained 1.2%, and Germany's DAX index increased 2.4% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of Eli Lilly ( LLY ) were 3.5% higher pre-bell after the drugmaker brushed off concerns about the impact of CVS Health's ( CVS ) decision to drop coverage of weight-loss drug Zepbound. Shell (SHEL) shares increased 3.3% after the company reported Q1 adjusted earnings that topped analysts' estimates.

On the losing side, Roku ( ROKU ) shares fell 7.5%, a day after the company issued revenue guidance shy of analysts' projections.