US pre-open: Futures pointing higher ahead of payrolls data

Wall Street equity futures were trading on the front foot ahead of the release of the all important monthly US non-farm payrolls report due out later.

As of 0948 BST, Dow Jones mini futures were adding 68 points to 35,380.0, those for the S&P 500 were up by 16.25 points to 4,538.0 and those tracking the Nasdaq-100 by 78.0 points to 15,516.75.

"Looking ahead, today sees earnings data quieten down as the US jobs report brings the economists back to the table. Wednesday’s blockbuster ADP reading could provide the basis for confidence this afternoon, but last month proved that the link between the two can be tenuous at times," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.

"Ultimately markets will likely focus on the wage data as much as anything, with recent declines in CPI now seeing real wages rise. While central bankers and politicians will herald the rise in real income, there will be a fear that this provides a catalyst for further inflation as businesses pass on their rising costs to consumers."

At 1330 BST, the U.S. Department of Labor was scheduled to publish the non-farm payrolls report for the month of July.

Consensus was for a 175,000 increase in payrolls, although some economists were anticipating a much larger increase.

Leading indicators for the U.S. jobs market had been mixed of later, with some data pointing to near-term strength even as other economic reports appeared to point to further weakness in the pipeline come autumn.

Amazon shares bolted 8% higher in after hours trading in New York following the release of its second quarter results.

Investors on the other hand were pushing those of Apple down by 1.6% ahead of the opening bell.

Overnight, the tech giant reported its third straight quarter of lower sales, its longest slump since 2016, the WSJ reported.