Wall St. set to open higher on jobs data

If anything, it buys the Fed a little more time before the first rate hike," said Wilmer Stith, a fixed income portfolio manager at Wilmington Trust in Baltimore. The Fed has said that it will raise rates only if it sees signs of a sustained recovery in the economy. Futures contracts showed that traders now see January as the first Fed meeting when a rate hike is more likely than not, based on CME FedWatch, which tracks expectations using its Fed funds futures contracts.