(Bloomberg) — Stock futures remained higher after jobless claims figures, with traders gearing up for a raft of Federal Reserve speakers and Friday’s payrolls report.
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S&P 500 contracts signaled the US equity benchmark will trim this week’s losses. Treasury 10-year yields rose two basis points to 4.37%. The dollar fluctuated.
Initial applications for US unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest since January, consistent with a recent uptick in the number of job cuts. Jobless claims increased by 9,000 to 221,000. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 214,000.
“Treasury yields are holding near the recent highs as investors ready for Friday’s employment report,” said Ian Lyngen and Vail Hartman at BMO Capital Markets. “Today’s session should be a placeholder at best, although we’re reminded that it’s often the anticipation of a solid jobs update that leads to a drift higher in yields ahead of the official release – resulting in an anticlimactic response.”
The government’s monthly employment report due Friday is expected to show a roughly 215,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls, which include private- and public-sector jobs. That pace, the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey, would be the slowest since November, following three solid months averaging 265,000.
A survey conducted by 22V Research shows there is no clear consensus on the market reaction to Payrolls on Friday.
Among the investors surveyed, 29% think the response will be “risk-on,” 32% said “risk-off,” and 39% are betting on a “mixed/negligible” reaction.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled Wednesday that policymakers will wait for clearer signs of lower inflation before cutting interest rates, even though a recent bump in prices didn’t alter their broader trajectory. He said recent inflation figures — though higher than expected — did not “materially change” the overall picture.
Powell also reiterated his expectation that it will likely be appropriate to begin lowering rates “at some point this year.”
“Powell set the tone. He wants to ease, the question is when will he have enough cover to justify that ease and move forward without multiple dissents?” said Andrew Brenner at NatAlliance Securities. “June still looks like the odds favorite, but barely.”
Corporate Highlights:
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Boeing Co.’s latest 737 Max crisis has worsened an airline shortage of popular narrowbody aircraft, sending the cost of used-jet rentals to the highest level in years.
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Levi Strauss & Co. reported higher-than-expected sales and profit in the first quarter that helped fuel a more optimistic full-year outlook.
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Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. will pull its drug for a progressive, fatal nerve disease from the market after a trial showed that patients taking it fared no better than those getting a placebo on a variety of measures.
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Block Inc. was cut to underweight at Morgan Stanley, which said the downgrade reflects limited additional opportunity for the company’s Cash App to expand banking and credit services.
Key events this week:
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Eurozone retail sales, Friday
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US unemployment, nonfarm payrolls, Friday
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Fed’s Michelle Bowman, Thomas Barkin and Lorie Logan speak, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
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S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% as of 8:30 a.m. New York time
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Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5%
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Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
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The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed
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The MSCI World index rose 0.2%
Currencies
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The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
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The euro rose 0.2% to $1.0857
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The British pound was little changed at $1.2656
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The Japanese yen was little changed at 151.73 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
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Bitcoin rose 1.3% to $66,613.32
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Ether rose 1.2% to $3,348.5
Bonds
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The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.37%
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Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.39%
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Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.04%
Commodities
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West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $85.19 a barrel
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Spot gold fell 0.5% to $2,288.20 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
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