US pre-open: Futures slightly higher ahead of nonfarm payrolls report

Wall Street futures were narrowly in the green ahead of the bell on Friday as investors awaited the key June jobs report later in the session.

As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.05%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.09% and 0.22% higher, respectively.

The Dow Jones closed 11.06 points higher on Thursday as market participants spent the day digesting a number of data points.

Friday's main focus will be the Labor Department's all-important monthly jobs report at 1330 BST, with economists expecting to see nonfarm payrolls growing by 706,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate was seen falling to 5.6% from 5.8%. Market participants will also thumb over the report for any details on changes in average hourly earnings for any hints of a large uptick in wages.

Markets.com's Neil Wilson said: "All eyes today turn to the US jobs report, the monthly nonfarm payrolls. Initial jobless claims declined to 364,000 last week, data yesterday showed, the lowest level since the pandemic started, but there are still more than 11.0m Americans receiving pandemic-related benefits. Today’s NFP is expected to print around 700k, but as ever the range of estimates is quite wide. That would imply an improvement from May’s 559,000, while the unemployment rate is expected to decline to 5.6% from 5.8%.

"Whilst we know the Fed has signalled it’s not ignorant to inflation risks, we also know that the labour market is a key factor in determining the likely timing and pace of tightening when it does happen. Since the Fed’s last meeting, which the market took as a sign of more hawkishness (from a very dovish base), the equation for markets has changed slightly. US 10-year yields trade around 1.46% ahead of the report, whilst US equity index futures are mildly higher."

On the macro front, June's nonfarm payrolls and unemployment report will be published at 1330 BST, as will trade balance numbers, while monthly factory orders data will follow at 1500 BST.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.