Provided by Dow Jones By James Willhite Here's what we're watching ahead of the opening bell on Friday. -- U.S. stock futures ticked higher, with contracts tied to the S&P 500 up 0.3% a day after the broad-market index notched its first all-time closing high of 2021. Nasdaq-100 futures added 0.5%, suggesting tech shares would also build on Thursday's recovery. Investors have largely focused on prospects for additional government spending once Democrats achieve a unified government after President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in. What's Coming Up The U.S. jobs report for December is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Job growth has slowed in recent months as cold weather, rising Covid-19 infections and lockdowns took the wind out of a nascent recovery -- and those factors are expected to have weighed heavily last month.