Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Slightly Lower as Investors Digest Economic Data

Major U.S. indexes were lower in afternoon trading Thursday as big-tech stocks gave back early-session gains, while investors digested fresh labor market data ahead of tomorrow’s highly anticipated August jobs report.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down 0.5% and 0.1%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.8%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed lower for the second straight day on Wednesday, led by a decline in shares of AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) and other big-name technology stocks.

Nvidia shares were up 0.5% in recent trading after rising more than 3% early Wednesday. Microsoft (MSFT) shares moved into negative territory, while Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META) and Amazon (AMZN) remained higher but were off their session highs. Broadcom (AVGO) shares, which had also risen in early trading, were down about 0.5% ahead of the release of the chipmaker’s eagerly awaited earnings report after the closing bell.

U.S. stocks have gotten off to a sluggish start this month as concerns about the health of the economy have resurfaced. Manufacturing data and a report on job openings came in weaker than expected in recent days.

On Thursday, the monthly ADP employment report showed that private payrolls grew less than economists had expected in August, while weekly jobless clams numbers came in slightly lower than expected. The data provide further confirmation that the U.S. labor market is cooling but not deteriorating significantly.

Market participants are anxiously awaiting Friday’s release of the government’s jobs report for August, after last month’s report showed a surprising increase in the unemployment rate and sent markets reeling. The Federal Reserve has said it is focused on the labor market as it considers cutting its benchmark lending rate for the first time in four years. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that rate cuts could come as soon as the mid-September meeting of the central bank’s policy committee, but has said that incoming data will drive the decisions on the pace and depth of the easing.

The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which is sensitive to expectations around interest rates, was down slightly to 3.75% on Thursday, near its lowest level in a month. Gold futures were up about 0.5% to around $2,540 while bitcoin slumped to its lowest level in a month near $56,000 recently.