US pre-open: Markets poised for upbeat start; Friday's payrolls eyed
US markets are poised to open on a brighter note Thursday as market participants adopt an upbeat stance ahead of Friday’s US non-farm payrolls report despite a rise in weekly jobless claims.
Costco Wholesale Corp.
$723.89
13:04 24/04/24
Nasdaq 100
17,526.80
12:15 24/04/24
By midday in London, both the March futures contracts for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 indicated a higher open. The contracts for the DJIA and S&P 500 were both up by 0.2% at 18,112 and 2,099.4, respectively.
On Wednesday, the DJIA shed 0.6% and the S&P 500 dipped below 2,000 points losing 0.4% although closed off their worst levels of the session.
Augustin Eden at Accendo Markets said markets pared losses after Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George said she would prefer to raise rates sooner, such as the middle of the year, but at a gradual pace. She also warned that waiting too long may require rates to rise rapidly in the future.
Wednesday’s economic data was mixed with the ADP jobs report falling slightly shy of expectations on the headline reading but the US ISM report for the services sector registering growth for the second consecutive month of the year.
Thursday’s report on weekly jobless claims rose 320,000 from 313,00, missing economist expectations for a reading of 295,000.
Despite the rise in jobless claims, markets are cautiously optimistic of a strong reading for Friday's payrolls with consensus calling for 240,000 jobs added by the US economy and the unemployment rate inching lower to 5.6% from 5.7%.
In company news, retailer Costco Wholesale reported net income rising to $598m in the second quarter from $463m and sales rising by 4.3% to $26.87bn.
Elsewhere, Chesapeake Utilities reported fourth-quarter profit of $10.1m and revenue of $120.4m in the period.