2 Minutes Read (Reuters) – On Thursday, futures for the S&P 500 remained at a record high, as investors awaited a batch of economic data to gauge the health of the US economy following the equities market’s robust gains in the first half of the year. PHOTO FROM THE FILE: Dividers are seen inside a trading post on the trading floor as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) prepares to resume trading on May 22, 2020. Brendan McDermid/Reuters The Labor Department’s weekly jobless claim report, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, is likely to indicate that the number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits declined for the week ending June 26, albeit at a slower pace owing to labor shortages. Separately, figures on factory activity and building spending in the United States will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Investors are razor-focused on Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report, where a good reading might compel the US Federal Reserve to rethink its accommodative position, after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq achieved a string of new highs last month. The Fed’s surprisingly aggressive tone in June spurred a shift away from energy, financials, and industrial companies, which stand to benefit the most from the expanding economy, into so-called “safe haven” tech-heavy growth sectors. The focus also switches to the second-quarter earnings season, which begins in July, to see if the first-half momentum can be sustained for the rest of the year. Dow e-minis were up 7 points, or 0.02 percent, at 6:41 a.m. ET, while the S&P 500 e-minis were down 0.25 points, or 0.01 percent, and the Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 32.5 points, or 0.22 percent. Micron Technology Inc fell 2.9 percent in premarket trading despite exceeding forecasts for quarterly earnings and forecasting fourth-quarter revenue. Didi Global Inc gained 8.5 percent on the first day of trading in the United States, slightly over its initial public offering price, valuing China’s ride-hailing behemoth at $68.49 billion. The stock of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc jumped 0.8 percent ahead of its third-quarter earnings report. In Bengaluru, Devik Jain and Medha Singh reported; Maju Samuel edited./n
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