A Wall St. sign is seen near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Wall Street’s main indexes were set to open higher on Friday after data showed smaller-than-expected jobs growth in May, easing concerns about the economy running too hot and causing an early tightening of monetary policy.
The Labor Department’s closely watched report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 559,000 jobs last month, helped by vaccinations and a reopening economy, following an unexpected slowdown in the labor market in April.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 650,000 new jobs in May.
“This confirms that last month’s data was not an aberration. For now, the Fed stays status quo,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
“This report is not likely to accelerate a debate on tapering sooner than expected.”
Worries that a robust economic rebound could lead to a prolonged period of inflation and prompt the Fed to contemplate paring back its crisis level support have weighed on investors’ minds recently.
Wall Street’s main indexes slipped on Thursday, weighed down by tech stocks after a better-than-expected weekly unemployment report and monthly private payrolls along with service sector data.
At 8:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 83 points, or 0.24%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 16.25 points, or 0.39%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 62 points, or 0.46%.
Shares of so-called “meme-stocks” weakened in early trade, with AMC Entertainment down nearly 5% a day after the Reddit darling completed its second share offering this week. read more
Shares of Koss Corp (KOSS.O), BlackBerry and GameStop (GME.N) dropped between 0.3% and 4%.
Billionaire William Ackman’s Pershing Square Tontine Holdings (PSTH.N) dropped 8.6% on talks to buy 10% of Universal Music Group in a deal that would value the label at $40 billion and make it the largest ever investment by a blank-check vehicle. read more
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