After ending yesterday’s lackluster session with a narrow mix, stocks may face some downward movement in early trading on Thursday. Current futures for the major indices indicate a modestly lower opening, with S&P 500 futures down by 0.2%.The futures slipped following a report from ADP, revealing that private sector employment in the U.S. increased considerably less than projected for August. ADP reported a rise of just 99,000 jobs for the month, a revision from the previously reported 111,000 jobs in July. Economists had anticipated a jump of 145,000 jobs in private sector employment, in contrast to the initial figure of 122,000 jobs for the previous month.”The job market’s downward trend has resulted in slower-than-normal hiring following two years of substantial growth,” stated ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson. “The next aspect to monitor is wage growth, which is stabilizing after a significant post-pandemic slowdown.”These figures could fuel concerns about the economic outlook but also heighten the likelihood of accelerated interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.Separately, the Labor Department released a report showing a marginal decrease in first-time U.S. unemployment benefit claims for the week ending August 31st. Initial jobless claims dropped to 227,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 232,000. Economists had expected claims to fall to 230,000 from the initially reported 231,000 for the prior week.Later in the trading day, the Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its report on service sector activity for August. The ISM’s services PMI is forecast to dip to 51.1 from 51.4 in July, with any reading above 50 still indicating growth.Following a sell-off on Tuesday, the stock markets exhibited a lack of clear direction throughout Wednesday’s session, with the major averages fluctuating around the unchanged line. By the end of the day, the Dow had inched up by 38.04 points or 0.1% to 40,974.97, the S&P 500 dipped by 8.86 points or 0.2% to 5,520.07, and the Nasdaq fell by 52.00 points or 0.3% to 17,084.30.In the Asia-Pacific region, stock markets turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell by 1.1%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged up by 0.1%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose by 0.4%.European markets have also shown mixed results today. The German DAX Index is up by 0.2%, whereas the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has decreased by 0.2%, and France’s CAC 40 Index has dropped by 0.7%.In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.71 to $69.91 a barrel after falling $1.14 to $69.20 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, gold futures are jumping $26.90 to $2,552.90 an ounce after inching up by $3 to $2,526 per ounce in the previous session.On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 143.11 yen compared to 143.74 yen at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1094, up from yesterday’s $1.1082.The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com
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