US pre-open: Stocks seen muted ahead of payrolls, Fedspeak

US futures pointed to a muted open on Wall Street as investors awaited the release of the non-farm payrolls report and a raft of speeches by Federal Reserve officials.

At 1140 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were flat.

Meanwhile, oil prices steadied, having fallen sharply amid worries that Opec and other producing countries would not take further steps to reduce the glut of crude. West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude were up 0.1% to $45.45 a barrel and $48.44, respectively. At 1800 BST, Baker Hughes will release its latest report on the number of active US rigs drilling for oil.

The big focus will be the non-farm payrolls report and unemployment rate at 1330 BST.

ADS Securities analyst Konstantinos Anthis said: "Today, Fed futures continue to indicate a 93.8% chance for the Fed to raise rates next month, but this number is bound to fall if today's NFP figures miss expectations.

"Investors who have positioned themselves towards higher interest rates will look to readjust their portfolios and a lot of dollar long positions will have to be exited driving the US currency lower."

Societe Generale expects the payrolls report to show a rebound after a disappointing March number, with the US economy adding 165,000 jobs in April. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is seen edging up one tenth to 4.6% and average hourly earnings should remain stable at 2.7%.

Fedspeak will also be in focus, with Stanley Fischer, Charles Evans, Eric Rosengren, James Bullard, John Williams and Chair Janet Yellen all due to make speeches.

In corporate news, Cigna shares were likely to be active after the health insurer posted better-than-expected first-quarter results ahead of the opening bell. Results were still due before the open from Revlon.

Elsewhere, Berkshire Hathaway slipped in pre-market trade ahead of its results after the close, while videogame developer Activision Blizzard fell after its quarterly earnings late on Thursday surpassed expectations but it reported fewer users.

International Business Machines was also on the back foot in pre-market trade after Warren Buffett told CNBC on Thursday that he had sold about a third of his stake in the company.