US pre-open: Futures mixed ahead of Easter long weekend

Wall Street futures were pointing to a mixed open ahead of the bell on Thursday as traders prepared to shut up shop for the Easter long weekend.

As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.04%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.02% and 0.28% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 80.34 points higher on Wednesday after March's ADP private payrolls report showed job growth had slowed last month.

In focus early on Thursday, gold prices sat above $2,000 for a third straight day amid heightened fears of an oncoming recession, particularly with US job growth slowing, while the yield on the benchmark ten-year Treasury note traded slightly lower at 3.294%.

Also drawing an amount of investor attention was news that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, raising tensions between the US and China to new heights.

Zaye Capital's Naeem Aslam said: "These heightened global tensions do not provide the most favourable circumstances for traders. They already have a lot on their plates, such as persistently increased inflation in the United States and throughout the world, the aftermath of Covid, and the continued dangers to the financial system owing to higher rates, which Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan's CEO, said isn't over yet. Moreover, rising oil prices threaten to undermine central banks' efforts.

"At these times of heightened geopolitical tensions and their daily escalation, traders and investors are, in my view, more inclined to choose less risky assets. It is also feasible that we may see additional gains for other gold alternatives, such as Bitcoin, which has performed pretty well in recent weeks despite the regulatory crackdown by US authorities on crypto exchanges."

On the macro front, March Challenger, Gray & Christmas job cuts data will be published at 1230 BST, while weekly jobless claims data from the Labor Department will follow at 1330 BST.

Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis president James Bullard will deliver a speech at 1500 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com