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U.S. stock futures edged lower as caution ahead of U.S. jobs data encouraged a reduction in risk appetite following a four-day winning streak.
How are stock-index futures trading
-
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
-0.36%
dipped 12 points, or 0.3% to 3894 -
Dow Jones Industrial Average
YM00,
-0.32%
futures fell 71 points, or 0.2% to 31296 -
Nasdaq 100 futures
NQ00,
-0.44%
eased 44 points, or 0.4% to 12096
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
rose 347 points, or 1.12%, to 31385, the S&P 500
SPX,
increased 58 points, or 1.5%, to 3903, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
gained 259 points, or 2.28%, to 11621.
What’s happening
Stock futures traders were reluctant to take bold bets in early Friday action, wary of being wrongfooted by the U.S. jobs report due before the opening bell on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 has enjoyed four consecutive days of gains, its best winning run since the end of March, as some investors hoped that recent heavy losses — down 21% in the first half of the year — meant fears about declining corporate profits were now pretty much baked in.
Indeed, the second quarter U.S. earnings season kicks into gear later next week. But for now attention will be focused on the health of the U.S jobs market and what that means for the likely pace of Federal Reserve interest rate rises.
The nonfarm payrolls report is set for release at 8.30 a.m. Eastern. Analysts consensus forecasts are for a net 250,000 jobs to have been created in June, down from 436,000 in April and 390,000 in May. The pace of wage growth, expected to be 5%, will be scanned for signs of inflationary pressures.
The market may find itself once again adopting the mantra that “bad news is good news,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
A strong report could bolster the idea that the US economy can cope with the Fed becoming “more aggressive to fight inflation”, while a softer reading might signal “that the economy is not strong enough to shoulder back-to-back big rate hikes, after all,” she added.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield
TMUBMUSD10Y,
was down 1.6 basis points to 2.984% ahead of the jobs data.
Other markets
-
Asian equities mostly responded positively to the overnight gains on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225
NIK,
+0.10%
pared its advance following news of an attack on former prime minister Shinzo Abe, adding 0.1%. But China’s Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP,
-0.25%
fell 0.25%, despite expectations Beijing is considering further fiscal stimulus. -
WTI crude
CL.1,
-0.49%
fell 0.8% to $101.90 a barrel. The benchmark rallied 4.3% on Thursday, after data showed that US oil inventories of 428 million barrels, about 10% below the five year average for this time of year, according to Enercom Analytics. -
The dollar index
DXY,
+0.36%
gained 0.5% to 107.67, a fresh 19-year high as the euro eyes parity with the buck. -
Gold
GC00,
-0.32% ,
which on Thursday finally snapped a seven session losing streak, is again down as the greenback rallies, slipping 0.4% to $1733 an ounce. -
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
-0.75%
is up 1% to $21830, having gained ground in three of the last four days.
