US pre-open: Stocks to nudge down ahead of payrolls

US stocks looked set to nudge lower at the open on Friday as investors eyed the latest non-farm payrolls report.

At 1045 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all down 0.1%.

Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony said: "Markets on both sides of the Atlantic appear to be resigning themselves to the reality that interest rates are set to remain higher for longer as central banks battle against inflationary pressures. The Dow sold off by just over 1% yesterday and futures markets show those downside pressures as persisting ahead of Friday’s open.

"A significantly better-than-forecast ADP Payroll reading yesterday will be fuelling wage pressure concerns - forecasts for the average hourly earnings released in today’s job report are looking relatively muted, but any upside surprise would provide fresh ammunition for monetary policy hawks.

"Perhaps underlining the skittish state of market sentiment right now was the reaction to last night’s numbers from Levi Strauss. A shift from wholesale to direct to consumer sales is weighing on performance but growth was reported in the lucrative Chinese market. The outlooks were revised down fractionally but that saw 6% knocked off the share price. Across the market at these valuations, it seems investors are far from forgiving."

The payrolls report for June is due at 1330 BST, along with the unemployment rate and average earnings.

In corporate news, Levi Strauss shares slid in pre-market trade after the company cut its profit outlook for the year on Thursday.

The clothing retailer, famous for its denim, now expects adjusted earnings per share of between $1.10 and $1.20, down from a range of $1.30 to $1.40.