Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on April 25, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
U.S. stock futures opened little changed on Thursday as investors geared up for Friday morning’s nonfarm payrolls report.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched higher by 13 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures hovered near the flatline.
In regular trading, the Dow rose 78.84 points, or 0.20%. The S&P 500 edged lower by 0.02%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.09%.
All three of the major averages are on pace for a winning week. The Dow has a 0.52% gain, while the S&P 500 is higher by 1.43% and the Nasdaq is on pace for a 2.62% advance.
Investors are looking forward to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report for May, due at 8:30 a.m. ET. They will be seeking signs of a weakening labor market, as evidence of a slowing economy may support interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect that 190,000 jobs were added, and they anticipate that wages grew 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.
A slowing economy is just one reason to remain bullish on the overall market this year, according to Ed Clissold, chief U.S. strategist for Ned Davis Research.
“There’s not a lot of reasons to get off what has so far been a really good year,” he said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Thursday. “The Q1 earnings season is wrapping up, with over 80% of companies beating estimates. [It] looks like Q2 is going to have an acceleration in earnings growth. We’re looking at economic slowdown, no immediate recession. The excessive optimism we saw in March has been largely worked off.”
“For the most part, it’s a bull market until proven otherwise,” he added.
The jobs report comes after the European Central Bank on Thursday cut rates for the first time since 2019, adding pressure to the Fed to potentially lighten up on policy.
The Fed will give its decision on rates next week after its June 11-12 policy meeting. Fed funds futures trading data suggests the central bank will most likely hold rates steady this time, but they imply a roughly 70% chance that policymakers will ease in September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.