5 things to know before the stock market opens Friday

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:

Stock futures, bond yields higher ahead of employment reportJob growth last month is expected to be more than double August’s readingSenate passes short-term increase to debt ceiling, House to vote nextU.S. oil nears $80 per barrel as natural gas prices take breatherElon Musk says Tesla moving headquarters from California to Texas

U.S. stock futures advanced slightly Friday ahead of the government’s September employment report. The 10-year Treasury yield also rose in the lead-up to the jobs data at 8:30 a.m. ET, trading around 1.6%, a level not seen since early June. On Thursday, the market’s focus shifted from rising bond yields to the debt ceiling deal out of Washington. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all rose about 1%, logging three straight winning days and putting the three stock benchmarks on track for a winning first full trading week of October. Last Friday’s strong gain was not enough to turn the tide on the worst week for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq back to February and for the Dow back to early September.

Economists expect Friday’s jobs report, which will be key as the Federal Reserve prepares to slow its massive Covid-era bond-buying program, to show that 500,000 nonfarm payrolls were created in September, compared with last month’s much worse-than-expected 235,000 additions. The nation’s unemployment rate is seen dropping to 5.1% in September from 5.2% in August. On Thursday, initial jobless claims for last week were better than expected. ADP’s look at private sector jobs trends, released Wednesday, showed a brisk pace of hiring last month despite concerns about elevated Covid cases.

The Senate approved Thursday night a compromise bill that allows for a short-term, $480 billion increase in the nation’s debt ceiling. That sum, the Treasury Department estimates, would last until Dec. 3. The legislation now moves to the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is expected to take it up in the coming days. While avoiding the approaching Oct. 18 deadline for an unprecedented U.S. default, the measure gives Democrats nearly two months to figure out how to raise the debt limit through the reconciliation process with no Republican votes.

U.S. oil prices, as measured by West Texas Intermediate crude, on Friday morning inched closer to $80 per barrel. The last time WTI was that high was Nov. 3, 2014. As of Thursday’s settling price, U.S. oil futures were up about 3.2% this week on doubts the U.S. government would release crude from its strategic reserves in the near term.

Natural gas prices, while lower Friday, have repeatedly hit record highs as Europe and Asia compete for available liquefied natural gas. Europe has been buying on worries it may not have enough LNG in storage for the winter. Asia has been purchasing to meet insatiable demand.

Tesla is officially moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, Texas, CEO Elon Musk announced at the company’s 2021 annual shareholder meeting. In April 2020, on a Tesla earnings call, Musk lashed out at California government officials calling their temporary Covid-related health orders “fascist” in an expletive-laced rant. In 2020, Musk personally relocated to the Austin area from Los Angeles where he had lived for two decades. However, Tesla does plan to increase production at its California plant regardless of the headquarters move.

— Reuters contributed to this report. Follow all the market action like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with CNBC’s coronavirus coverage.