Wall Street set for higher open after job growth moderates
For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window
U.S. unemployment rate rises to 4.1%
Tesla extends gains
Macy's up on report Arkhouse, Brigade Capital raise buyout offer
Futures up: Dow 0.12%, S&P 500 0.07%, Nasdaq 0.16%
Updated at 8:47 a.m. ET
By Ankika Biswas and Lisa Pauline Mattackal
July 5 (Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes were on track to open higher on Friday as markets reopened after the July 4 holiday, with data showing that U.S. job growth slowed to a still-healthy pace in June.
The Labor Department's report showed non-farm payrolls rose by 206,000 jobs in June, higher than the expected 190,000 increase. However, numbers for May were revised sharply lower to 218,000 from 272,000.
The unemployment rate came in at 4.1%, where it was expected to remain unchanged at 4%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3%, as expected, and lower than the 0.4% rise in May.
"It's a relatively benign report. The market was generally expecting the job gains to be a little bit lower, but the number was lower than May's report that had really worried some people," said Emily Bowersock Hill, CEO of Bowersock Capital Partners.
"If you're the Fed, you're saying - what happened in May is not quite as hot as we thought. The data isn't bad enough to alarm markets, and not bad enough to worry the Fed."
The softer reading supported the case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September, which comes on the heels of the ADP Employmentand weekly jobless claims reports this week that signaled easing labor market conditions.
Chances of a 25-basis point September rate cut rose to 72% after the data, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool, from 66%.
With Treasury yields falling after the data, megacaps including Alphabet GOOGL.O, Amazon.com AMZN.O and Meta Platforms META.O were up around 0.4% each.
Tesla TSLA.O rose 1.9% after hitting its highest level since early January on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, data also showed a measure of services sector activity dropped to a four-year low and factory orders slumped unexpectedly, pointing to the U.S. economy losing steam and prompting market participants to strengthen their bets for multiple rate cuts this year.
That helped the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notch record closing highs during Wednesday's holiday-shortened trading. With the equity market also staying shut for U.S. Independence Day on Thursday, trading volumes have been light throughout the week.
At 8:47 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 46 points, or 0.12%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 4 points, or 0.07%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 32 points, or 0.16%.
All the three major Wall Street indexes are poised for weekly gains, after high-momentum top technology stocks steered the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to strong gains in the first half of the year.
With second-quarter earnings on the horizon, it remains to be seen whether Wall Street's rally will broaden beyond major megacap stocks and whether earnings for those companies can continue to support steep valuations.
Macy's M.N jumped 6.9% after a report said Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital raised their bid to buy the department store chain for about $6.9 billion.
Cryptocurrency-related stocks including Coinbase Global COIN.O, Riot Platforms RIOT.O and Marathon Digital MARA.O lost 5%-7% after bitcoin BTC= slumped to a more than four-month low.
Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Shounak Dasgupta
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
