A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Mostly Flat; All Eyes On Jobs Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade. Data on nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate for April will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer is set to speak in Stanford, California at 11:30 a.m. ET, while San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in New York at 12:45 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to speak in Providence, Rhode Island at 1:30 p.m. ET. Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard, and Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren will speak in Stanford, California at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 6 points to 20,861.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 1.25 points to 2,386.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 2.75 points to 5,628.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.33 percent to trade at $48.54 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.07 percent to trade at $45.55 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.09 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.13 percent and German DAX 30 index declining 0.31 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.02 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.07 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.70 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.84 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.78 percent and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.89 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Baird downgraded Akamai Technologies, Inc. AKAM from Outperform to Neutral.

Akamai Technologies shares fell 1.04 percent to $52.31 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• CIGNA Corporation CI reported stronger-than-expected profit for its first quarter on Friday.



• Herbalife Ltd. HLF reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and raised its FY17 adjusted earnings forecast.



• Colfax Corp CFX posted better-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised its FY17 earnings guidance.



• Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI reported stronger-than-expected revenue for its first quarter, but issued a weak forecast for the year.