US pre-open: Futures mixed as labour data, trade tensions loom

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were mostly in the green ahead of the bell on Thursday as traders strapped in for a data-heavy session. As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones futures were flat, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.15% and 0.24% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 24.58 points lower on Wednesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session as traders weighed rate cut odds and inflation signals.

Market participants will turn their attention to fresh labour market data on Thursday, with the ADP private payrolls report, due out at 1315 BST, expected to show a slowdown in hiring during August, with economists expecting to see 75,000 new jobs added last month, down from 104,000 in July. Today's ADP figures come ahead of Friday's closely watched non-farm payrolls report, which will likely shape near-term sentiment across equity and bond markets.

Rostro's Joshua Mahony said: "Markets are gearing up for a fresh batch of economic data out of the US today, with the ADP payrolls release expected to maintain the negative narrative around the jobs market given yesterday's JOLTS job opening figure. The decline in US job openings saw a 176,000 decline, falling to the lowest level since September 2024 (7.18 million). Notably, the revisions seen over the past month highlight how the ADP payrolls figure has actually been a better guide of the final revised NFP figure than the initial release. As such, this provides additional importance to today's ADP figure, with markets expecting to see a decline to the 65,000 mark. Should we continue this trend of weakness in the jobs market, markets will likely look towards gold and EURSD as potential benefactors."

On another note, trade policy remained in focus after Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to fast-track a ruling on his appeal against a federal decision that deemed most of his tariffs unlawful. The administration has sought to preserve duties imposed under emergency powers, arguing they were critical to ongoing negotiations and national economic security.

Elsewhere on the macro front, August Challenger job cuts data was scheduled for publication at 1230 BST, while weekly jobless claims data and July's goods and services trade balance numbers will follow at 1330 BST, S&P Global's August composite and services PMIs will be released at 1445 BST, and the ISM's August services PMI will round things out at 1500 BST.

In the corporate space, Broadcom, Lululemon Athletica, and DocuSign will report earnings after their close.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com