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Futures: Dow flat, S&P 500 up 0.08%, Nasdaq 0.16%

Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were muted on

Friday, as investors refrained from placing big bets ahead of a

crucial nonfarm payrolls report and a Supreme Court ruling on

President Donald Trump's tariffs.

The ‌top court in the U.S. is expected to deliver a ruling on

the legality of Trump's sweeping tariffs, with traders

anticipating heightened volatility across financial ​markets if

the court strikes them down. Justices have voiced skepticism

about Trump's authority to impose the tariffs ‍in their November

arguments.

Striking down tariffs could impact government revenue, but

Treasury Secretary Scott ⁠Bessent said on Thursday ⁠that he was

more worried about the loss of Trump's leverage than revenue.

"A verdict against the US president could spark a new bout

of ‌uncertainty... Equities may rally if the court rules against

tariffs," ​said analysts at Rabobank.

"However, that may be short-lived as Trump has indicated

that his team has prepared alternative proposals to replace the

existing tariff schemes if necessary."

On the other hand, ⁠the crucial nonfarm payrolls for

December, due for release ‍before markets open, ​will be in the

spotlight, especially as they are among the first reliable

datasets following a historic U.S. government shutdown late last

year.

Economists polled by Reuters expect nonfarm payrolls to have

increased by 60,000 ‍in December and the unemployment rate to

have ticked lower to 4.5% from 4.6% last month.

Markets are pricing in about 60 basis points of easing from

the Federal Reserve in 2026, according to data compiled by LSEG,

as numerous Fed policymakers cautioned against further

reductions until there's more clarity on the health of the jobs

market.

"The report will probably confirm a further softening of the

US labor market, but we doubt that the ​numbers will ‍be weak

enough to convince a majority of the central bankers that

another rate cut is urgently needed," Rabobank analysts said.

At 05:36 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 9 points, or

0.02%, ​S&P 500 E-minis were up 5.5 points, or 0.08% and

Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 40 points, or 0.16%.

Wall Street's main indexes ended mixed on Thursday, as

declines in tech stocks weighed on the Nasdaq, while consumer

discretionary stocks boosted the Dow and countered most tech

declines, leaving the S&P 500 flat.

Still, all three indexes are set for weekly gains in the

first full trading week of 2026, largely powered by gains in the

consumer discretionary and mining sectors.

The Dow is on ​track for its biggest weekly gain since the

last week of November.

Defense stocks that had rallied on Thursday on prospects of

a higher U.S. military budget in 2027, stabilized in premarket

trading, with Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) up 1.2% and RTX up

0.8%.

Intel ( INTC ) gained 2.4% after Trump said ‍he had a "great

meeting" with the chipmaker's chief executive officer, Lip-Bu

Tan.

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini

Ganguli)