U.S. stock futures fluctuated before the open as Wall Street looked to end a volatile week on a high note. Futures tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) lost 0.2%, while futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq (NQ=F) fell 0.3%. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) fell 0.1%.

Markets are nearing the end of the most volatile week of the 2024 election campaign. Monday saw the worst defeat of the year and Wall Street’s “fear barometer” – the CBOE Volatility Index (^VIX) – rose to its highest level since the turmoil of the pandemic.

By Thursday, a reassuring look at the labor market – in the form of the normally routine weekly unemployment report – had given investors reason to jump back in. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both gained over 2%, with the S&P posting its best day since late 2022 – a remarkable feat considering the breadth of the overall rally in 2024.

After a modest rally on Friday, the major indexes could end the week roughly at the same level they began at. After Thursday’s session, the S&P 500 index was about 0.5 percent below last Friday’s close. One more reason, as many strategists told Julie Hyman of Yahoo Finance in the Morning Brief newsletter, to keep calm amid the chaos.

Friday is a quiet day with no significant economic releases or earnings on the agenda. Among individual players, Nvidia (NVDA) will be back in the spotlight after its own wild swings this week. The company’s stock rose slightly in premarket trading. Meanwhile, Paramount (PARA) stock rose over 5% after the company reported its first streaming earnings and said it plans layoffs in the coming year.