Friday preview: US non-farm payrolls in the spotlight

The US non-farm payrolls report will be in the spotlight on Friday amid speculation of an interest rate hike ahead of the Federal Reserve’s 14-15 June policy meeting.

Economists expect US employers added 160,000 jobs in May, the same as the previous month, while the unemployment rate is expected to fall to 4.9% from 5.0%.

Average hourly earnings are forecast to have risen 2.5% year-on-year in May, in line with April’s growth. On the month earnings are projected to increase 0.2% in May, slowing from a 0.3% in April.

The Fed is monitoring the health of the labour market as it determines the timing of its next interest rate hike.

“Current market pricing suggests a 24% chance of a move in June, a drop from yesterday, but with
non-farm payrolls looming on Friday we could easily see the declining trend reversed if the figures look robust on most measures,” said Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at IG.

Friday 03 June

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Baronsmead Second Venture Trust, Baronsmead VCT 5, DX (Group), Focusrite, Games Workshop Group, James Halstead, Sage Group

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
DFS Furniture

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Boeing Co, Toro Limited

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Balance of Trade (US) (13:30)
Factory Orders (US) (15:00)
ISM Non-Manufacturing (US) (15:00)
Non-Farm Payrolls (US) (13:30)
Retail Sales (EU) (10:00)
Unemployment Rate (US) (13:30)

SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Admiral Group, Bodycote, FDM Group (Holdings)

AGMS
Africa Opportunity Fund Limited, CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings , Edenville Energy , ICG-Longbow Senior Secured UK Property Debt Investments Ltd, MoneySwap, NMC Health, North American Income Trust (The), Novolipetsk Steel GDS (Reg S), TCS Group Holding GDR (Each Repr 1 A Shr) (Reg S)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Acencia Debt Strategies Ltd., Admiral Group, Bodycote, Clarkson, FDM Group (Holdings), Globaldata, H&T Group, Highcroft Investment, Ibstock , Intertek Group, Invesco Perpetual UK Small Companies Inv Trust, Konami Holdings Corporation, Lookers, Microgen, Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd., Playtech, Porvair, Rightmove, SDL, SThree, William Hill