Stock futures inch higher ahead of US jobs report

Asia markets are falling again today, set to clock declines at the end of the first week of this year. South Korea is leading the decline. That's despite good data from the private sector which gained jobs for the fourth straight month to the end of 2023: it saw a a big bump in leisure and hospitality hiring - two industries decimated during the pandemic. But markets are on tenterhooks awaiting the jobs report today: what investors essentially expect is a number not too robust that it would trigger more hikes....but not too slow as to raise worries about the economy.