Stock Futures Waver as Wall Street Awaits U.S. Labor Snapshot

New York (July 7)  Stock futures wavered Thursday morning as investors awaited further insight into the state of the U.S. labor market.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.12%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.06%, and Nasdaq futures slid 0.06%.

U.S. stocks on Wednesday closed with modest gains as doves at the Federal Reserve voiced their concern about raising interest rates in June heading into the Brexit vote.

The ADP Employment Report for June will be released on Thursday morning, followed by a weekly reading on the number of new claims for unemployment benefits.

The month's biggest release, the nonfarm payrolls report for June, will be released on Friday morning. The reading on the labor market will be closely scrutinized for signs that weakness in May was momentary.

The U.S. economy is expected to have added 155,000 jobs in June after a dismal 38,000 reading in May, according to Deutsche Bank. The 35,000 workers returning from a May strike at Verizon should boost the headline figure. An increase in labor force participation could lift the unemployment rate to 4.9% from 4.7%.

While the chances of a Fed rate hike in the near term are greatly diminished, the June jobs report will still be analyzed through central bank members' eyes. The shock Brexit vote in June torpedoed any chances of a summer rate hike and even pushed the likelihood of an increase to 2017.

WhiteWave Foods  (WWAV) jumped nearly 20% in premarket trading after receiving a $12.5 billion acquisition offer from France's Danone (DANOY) . Danone will purchase WhiteWave for $56.25 a share, an 18.6% premium to WhiteWave's close on Wednesday. The deal expands Danone's presence in the non-dairy milk and yogurt market.

Source: TheStreet