Stock futures trade higher ahead of jobs report

Traders will be watching numbers on jobs, trade and factory orders

U.S. equity futures are trading higher ahead of the release of the most anticipated economic report of the month.

The major futures indexes suggest a gain of 0.1% when the Friday trading session begins on Wall Street.

The Labor Department is expected to say the U.S. economy added 700,000 new nonfarm jobs last month. That would be up from a weaker-than-expected gain of 559,000 thousand in May, largely reflecting a labor shortage.

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The unemployment rate is anticipated to slip to 5.7% from 5.8% in May, which marked the lowest since March 2020 and was the first reading below 6% since then. 

Also on the economic agenda, the Commerce Department is out with the U.S. trade balance for May. The monthly deficit in goods and services is expected to widen to $71.4 billion from a $68.9 billion deficit in April. 

May factory orders will also be released. They’re forecast to rise 1.6%, rebounding from a 0.6% slide in April:

Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Friday, though markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong declined a day after the Chinese Communist Party marked its centenary with tough talk by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

JUNE JOBS REPORT COMES AT MAKE-IT-OR-BREAK-IT MOMENT FOR BIDEN'S ECONOMIC AGENDA

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.8% and China's Shanghai Composite lost 1.9%.

In Europe, London's FTSE added 0.2%, Germany's DAX gained 0.5% and France's CAC rose 0.2%.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 38386.09 +146.43 +0.38%
SP500 S&P 500 5116.17 +16.21 +0.32%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 15983.084278 +55.18 +0.35%

On Wall Street on Thursday, the benchmark S&P 500 touched a new record in anticipation of a positive U.S. jobs report.

The S&P 500 index rose 0.5% on Thursday to 4,319.94, marking its sixth straight gain and fourth consecutive record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4% to 34,633.53. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.1% to 14,522.38.

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In the energy market, benchmark U.S. crude slipped 3 cents to $75.20 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 9 cents to $75.75 barrel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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