Stock Futures Brush Off Jobs Data, Rise Following Record-Setting Session

After all three major indexes yesterday notched record closes, stock futures are firmly in the black this morning. This comes despite data showing that for December, the U.S. economy unexpectedly lost 140,000 jobs -- the first time this has occurred since April of 2020, and thwarting analysts' expectations of a gain of 50,000.

As a result, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are up over 60 points, while S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are higher as well. Elsewhere, Thursday night saw U.S. President Trump finally acknowledge that President-elect Joe Biden's administration will take over on Jan. 20, following Wednesday's unrest at the Capitol and the victory of Democrats in two key Senate races in Georgia. The latter boosted investors' hopes for additional fiscal stimulus.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

• STZ notches record highs following upbeat earnings report.
• The latest company to block Trump's social media accounts.
• Plus, Boeing is on the rise despite settlement with Justice Department; why SRPT is plummeting; and Tesla and its CEO make history.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 2.1 million call contracts traded on Thursday, and 808,925 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.38 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.44. 
2. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) is up 0.4% ahead of the bell, after the blue-chip airline giant reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department. According to reports, the company misled regulators about the safety issues of its 737 Max jet, the aircraft involved in two fatal crashes that left over 300 people dead. Year-over-year, BA is down 35.8%.
3. Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) is plummeting in pre-market trading, down 48.6% after a study of its gene therapy treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy failed to yield results for one of its main goals. Still, over the last nine months SRPT has tacked on 55.5%.
4. The shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) are up 4.8% in before the open, after the equity yesterday notched its 10th-straight daily win. The company just surpassed Facebook (FB) in market value, and solidified CEO Elon Musk as the world's richest person, surpassing Amazon.com's (AMZN) Jeff Bezos. Already in 2021, TSLA has added 15.6%.
5. Today is is packed to the brim, with unemployment rate data and an average hourly earnings update for December. Nonfarm payrolls are also expected to come out, in addition to inventories and consumer credit data. 

Asian, European Markets Finish First Week of 2021 Mostly Higher

Markets in Asia finished the week on a high note, with the exception of the Shanghai Composite in China, which slipped 0.2% on Friday. The South Korean Kospi saw sizable gains, closing the day with a 4% pop, and a 9.7% gain for the first trading week of the year thanks to auto name Hyundai Motor, which surged on news of a collaboration with Apple (AAPL) to make electric vehicles and batteries. Meanwhile, the Nikkei in Japan added 2.4%, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng settled 1.2% higher.

The bourses are mostly higher at midday, amid news that the Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) vaccine is effective against the new strains of the coronavirus found in South Africa and the United Kingdom. At last glance, the French CAC 40 is up 0.4%, while the German DAX is 0.7% higher, after earlier touching a record high. Meanwhile, the London FTSE 100 has shed 0.1%.