Stock futures were little changed to slightly lower Thursday evening as investors braced for the results of the July jobs report Friday morning, which will offer further signals of the direction and pace of economic activity amid the ongoing pandemic. Debates in Washington, D.C., over another round of virus-related relief measures are set to continue on Friday, with lawmakers signaling they will be unlikely to hit their previous self-imposed deadline of hashing out a deal by the end of this week.
Earlier on Thursday, stocks ended higher for a fifth straight session as equities continued their seemingly interminable march higher. The Nasdaq Composite ended at a record high, closing above more than 11,000 for the first time ever, as shares of Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) closed at records. The S&P 500 ended just 1.1% below its record closing high from February 19.
The rally came amid better than expected data on the US labor market, with new jobless claims shown to have remained historically elevated, but improved to a pandemic-era low of 1.19 million last week.
On Friday, the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report will round out the economic data calendar for this week, offering a fuller picture of the state of the US economy last month. Consensus economists expect that the economy added a back 1.48 million non-farm payrolls in July, moderating from the record 4.8 million added during June.
“On balance, we expect the July employment report performance to be positive, extending improvement in the US labor market,” Sam Bullard, senior economist for Wells Fargo corporate and investment banking, wrote in a note Thursday. “That said, questions around the strength and duration of the economic rebound are increasing given the recent upswing in new virus cases in the South and Sunbelt states. This has intensified the uncertainty about whether state and local economies can continue to recover, keeping the markets’ focus squarely on the dashboard of labor market indicators.”
Elsewhere in markets, gold climbed further above $2,000 per ounce as investors still sought out safe haven assets but fretted over low-yielding Treasuries.
On the earnings front, Uber (UBER) on Thursday reported its first-ever year over year decline in revenue as the coronavirus pandemic wiped out demand for rides. Gross bookings in the company’s food delivery business more than doubled to overtake bookings in its ride-hailing business for the first time. However, the recently public company reaffirmed that it expected to hit adjusted EBITDA profitability in 2021. Shares of Uber were lower in late trading.
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Here were the main moves in equity markets, as of 6:09 p.m. ET:
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S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,341.25, down 3 points, or 0.09%
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Dow futures (YM=F): 27,265.00, down 20 points, or 0.07%
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Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 11,255.00, down 6.25 points, or 0.06%
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 10: A man in a medical mask walks by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 10, 2020 in New York City. After losing nearly 8 percent in a market rout yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 700 points in morning trading as investors look to a possible tax cut and other measures by the Trump administration to combat the coronavirus. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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