Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Inch Higher as Investors Await Jobs Data

Stock futures were little changed Thursday morning as investors digested the latest batch of labor market data and prepared for tomorrow’s release of the August jobs report.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were up 0.1% recently, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed solidly higher on Wednesday, boosted by the strong performance of tech stocks, which had slumped the previous two sessions.

A report released this morning by ADP showed that private sector hiring was weaker than economists had expected in August, while weekly jobless claims numbers came in slightly above estimates. Recent data have shown that the U.S. labor market is weakening, which has reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates when its policy committee meets on Sep. 17. The big event of the week comes Friday morning, when the August jobs report is scheduled to be released.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, was at 4.19% this morning, down from 4.21% at yesterday’s close and at its lowest level in a month, as investors grow more confident in the likelihood that rate cuts are coming.

Among noteworthy stock moves this morning, shares of Salesforce (CRM), a Dow component, dropped nearly 7% after the customer-relationship provider issued disappointing guidance, which offset better-than-expected quarterly results.

Shares of the world’s largest technology companies were mixed in premarket trading. Amazon (AMZN) and Meta Platforms (META) both gained about 2%, while Tesla (TSLA) advanced 1%, and chip giants Nvidia (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO) rose slightly. Shares of Alphabet (GOOG) slipped 0.7% after soaring 9% yesterday following a federal court ruling that the Google parent would not have to sell its Chrome browser. Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL) also ticked lower.

Gold futures were down 0.8% at around $3,605 per ounce, losing ground after hitting record highs on three consecutive days as renewed uncertainty about tariffs led some investors to seek out the traditional safe haven.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, fell 1.1% to $63.25 per barrel, adding to the previous session’s steep losses.

Bitcoin was trading around $110,800, down from an overnight high of $112,300. The cryptocurrency has come under pressure in recent weeks after hitting a record high of more than $124,000 in mid-August.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the U.S. dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, rose 0.2% to 98.36.