Friday, 4 August 2017

US index futures higher ahead of NFP report

Posted by Valentine at 15:59 Labels:

Wall Street stock indexes were set to start the final session of this week to the upside, as market participants focused entirely on the release of employment data later in the day.

US equity markets could see a sideways dynamic ahead of the key event. Analysts have pointed out that such development is not strange as stock indexes are standing close to all-time highs.

On Thursday, US benchmarks closed in mixed territory. The Dow Jones industrial average held to its historic high of 22,000 points reached a day earlier, with 3M contributing the most gains.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.2 percent, with energy components weighing on the index. The Nasdaq composite also came under pressure and eased about 0.3 percent by the closing bell.

  • Dow Jones Industrial Average: 9.86 / 0.04% / 22026.10

  • Standard & Poor’s 500: -5.41 / -0.22% / 2472.16

  • Nasdaq Composite: -22.30 / -0.35% / 6340.34

Second-quarter earnings continued to show solid results, cheering market participants. Automaker Tesla reported smaller-than-expected losses for the period, boosting stocks about six percent in early trading hours.

On the data front, initial jobless claims came in at 240,000 against a forecasted 242,000, according to the US Labor Department.

Ahead in the session, investors will be paying close attention to average hourly earnings, nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate for July, all set for release as of 12:30 GMT. Analysts are expecting to see a 185,000 jobs build for the prior month.

On Wednesday, ADP employment change missed expectations and promoted fear that official figures won't support the case for a third Federal Reserve rate hike by December.

According to Fed funds tracked by CME Group's FedWatch program, traders are pricing in a 42.5 percent chance of a rate move at the end of 2017.
Fort Financial Services

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