U.S. stock futures retreated Friday morning, a reversal after all three main benchmarks ended a holiday-shortened session on Wednesday at simultaneous record highs for the first time in 17 months. Investors eagerly awaited a key read on the labor market.
U.S. markets were closed on Thursday for Independence Day.
How are benchmarks faring?
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
YMU19, -0.12%
gave up 39 points, or 0.1%, at 26,931, those for the S&P 500 index
ESU19, -0.15%
declined 5.80 points, or 0.2%, to reach 2,994.75, while Nasdaq-100 futures
NQU19, -0.17%
shed 16.50 points, or 0.2%, at 7,871.
On Wednesday, the Dow
DJIA, +0.67%
rose 179.32 points, or 0.7%, at 26,966, its first record close since Oct. 3, while the S&P 500 index
SPX, +0.77%
set its third straight record close, rising 22.81 points, or 0.8% to 2,995.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP, +0.75%
ended the day at an all-time high of 8,170.23, adding 61.14 points, or 0.8%.
The trio of equity gauges finished at all-time highs on the same day for the first time since Jan. 26, 2018, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
What’s driving the market?
After a lackluster reading of 75,000 jobs created in May, Wall Street is anticipating the number of new jobs to bounce back in June. Economists polled by MarketWatch predict the U.S. created 170,000 jobs last month. The jobless rate is seen holding steady at 3.6%, which is the lowest rate since 1969.
A weak labor-market figure, one that runs below estimates, or shows an increase in unemployment, could indicate that the U.S. economy is decelerating, joining other major developed across the globe that are showing signs of sluggish expansion.
Investors are anticipating that the Federal Reserve will use the nonfarm-payroll data as a key metric in determining the need for a cut to benchmark rates, which is increasingly expected by market participants.
Wall Street, as gauged by CME Group data, are pricing in a near-certain reduction of rates when the Federal Open Market Committee concludes its two-day policy meeting on July 30-31. The only question is the degree of cut. A quarter of the market expects a half-percentage point cut to a range of 1.75%-2%, from the current 2.25%-2.50%.
“In a post holiday trading session the key macro indicator of the month could set the stage for a new round of skepticism,” wrote Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, in a daily research note.
“We see [nonfarm-[payrolls] growing by 89,000 with total unemployment at 3.7%. Although, our forecast calls for job’s growth, we reiterate, the job’s market has reached the maximum of growth acceleration as the strains of the trade war are felt,” he wrote.
The jobs report is slated to be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
How are other markets trading?
In overnight action, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
HSI, -0.07%
finished barely in negative territory, down less than 0.1%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index
SHCOMP, +0.19%
gained 0.2%, and the CSI 300 Index
000300, +0.52%
picked up 0.5%.
European stocks were declining, with the Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP, -0.42%
down 0.4%.
Meanwhile, gold prices
GCN19, +0.04%
were off 0.3% after booking its highest finish in six years on Tuesday.
The U.S. dollar
DXY, +0.18%
advanced 0.2%, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index, while U.S. oil prices
US:CLM9
edged lower, off 0.5%.
Source : MTV
