Dow Futures Up 160 Pts; Jobless Claims in Focus

U.S. stocks are seen posting modest gains later Thursday, with investors focusing their attention on reports on initial jobless claims and private sector hiring ahead of Friday’s government nonfarm payrolls report for May.

At 6:50 AM ET (1050 GMT), the Dow futures contract was up 162 points, or 0.5%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.4% while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 81 points, or 0.6%.

The gains came after Wall Street's three major indexes closed lower on Wednesday amid concerns that the Federal Reserve will stick to its aggressive rate hike cycle aimed at curbing soaring inflation.

The Dow ended down 176.89 points, or 0.5%, on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was off around 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.7%.

The Labor Department is to publish its weekly report on initial jobless claims at 8:30 AM ET. ADP will release data on private sector hiring at 8:15 AM ET.

The employment data is coming ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report for May with economists expecting the economy to have added 325,000 jobs last month. While still solid, it would represent the slowest jobs growth in around a year with the labor market transitioning to more moderate growth as the effects of the pandemic ebb.

Data on Wednesday showed that U.S. job openings fell in April, but remained at high levels, suggesting that wages would continue to rise, contributing to already high inflation.

Investors are closely watching economic data for clues as to what it might mean for interest rates and Friday’s employment report could set the tone for markets this month after a tumultuous month of May.

In corporate news, shares in online pet product retailer Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) surged around 17% ahead of the open after its quarterly earnings results late Wednesday came in ahead of expectations.

Shares in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) were lower after it reported slight misses in both earnings and revenue, after the bell on Wednesday.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB) stock was also in focus after Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg announced in a Facebook post late Wednesday that she is leaving the company after 14 years.

The announcement initially sent Meta's shares down 4%, but the stock erased the losses in after-hours trade.

Earnings from big tech names Crowdstrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Asana (NYSE:ASAN) are due after the close, along with results from retailers Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU), Designer Brands (NYSE:DBI) and RH (NYSE:RH).

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