US stocks: Futures fall, weekly drop in sight as jobs report looms
New York (Sept 4) US stocks on Friday looked on track to fall at the open and end lower for the week, but an eagerly awaited jobs report still could shake up trading before the holiday weekend.
Stock futures lost ground, with S&P 500 futures ESU5, -1.06% down 15.35 points, or 0.8%, to 1,930.75. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YMU5, -1.16% dropped 141 points, or 0.9%, to 16,207, while those for the Nasdaq 100 NQU5, -1.08% declined by 34.25 points, or 0.8%, to 4,195.25.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 SPX, +0.12% and Dow DJIA, +0.14% closed higher for a second day in a row, but gave up most of their gains by the market’s close.
US:SPX
1,9002,0001,9251,9501,975
The monthly jobs report is widely seen as the last notable reading on the U.S. economy’s health before the Federal Reserve decides whether to raise interest rates at its two-day meeting. A weaker-than-expected reading could trigger more bets by traders that the Fed won’t hike rates at the meeting, which starts Sept. 16.
“Our house call for a September liftoff will be reviewed after the August employment report,” said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank Securities, in a note late Thursday.
Also see: Panel of ex-Fed officials say no rate hike in September
The nonfarm-payrolls report and unemployment rate for August are scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect the U.S. gained 213,000 jobs last month as the unemployment rate dipped to 5.2%. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, has argued the Fed won’t decide to raise interest rates this month if the August job gains come in below 200,000.
Read: What to watch in the critical August jobs report
Other markets: Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -2.15% dropped and notched its biggest weekly drop since April 2014, while trading in China was closed for a national holiday.
European stocks SXXP, -1.86% lost ground, and crude-oil prices CLV5, -0.56% also retreated. The dollar DXY, -0.17% pulled back, while gold GCZ5, -0.14% was little changed.
Trading in U.S. markets will be closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Check out: When do markets close for Labor Day
Movers and shakers: Shares in Netflix Inc. NFLX, -2.73% fell in premarket action, putting the streaming-video company on track for its sixth down session in a row. The slump has come as investors fret about increasing competition.
Late Thursday, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -1.14% signaled it is eyeing more streaming options by announcing that it plans to buy video reformatter Elemental Technologies Inc.
Shares in Twitter Inc. TWTR, +1.73% could make moves, as the social-media company is expected to name a new CEO, perhaps as early as Friday.
Source: MarketWatch
