Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a flat or lower open on Thursday as buyers took a breather after the prior day’s gains and looked ahead to release of key employment data and the official U.S. crude stockpile numbers.
The blue-chip Dow futures gave up 9 points, or 0.05%, by 10:57AM GMT, or 6:57AM ET, the S&P 500 futures inched down 2 points, or 0.11%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 3 points, or 0.06%.
Investors may get some clues to Friday's nonfarm payrolls report when ADP jobs report and weekly jobless claims come out later in the session.
The private ADP payrolls report due at 12:15GMT, or 8:15AM ET, is expected to show the addition of 159,000 jobs in June.
Weekly jobless claims, due at 12:30GMT, or 8:30AM ET, are expected to rise by 2,000 last week to 270,000.
A further weakness in hiring could be an indication that the Federal Reserve (Fed) may not raise interest rates anytime soon amid the economic uncertainty following the Brexit vote.
In the run up to the July 26-27 monetary policy meeting, investors will be keeping a close eye on the data to try to determine whether the Fed will take a dovish or hawkish stance.
According to the minutes of the Fed's June policy meeting released on Wednesday, policymakers agreed that it was “prudent to wait for additional data regarding labor market conditions as well as information that would allow them to assess the consequences of the U.K. vote for global financial conditions and the U.S. economic outlook."
While Friday’s June jobs report will clearly be key in determining the employment picture stateside after the prior month’s weak job creation, the minutes gave relatively little indication on exactly what data needs to improve or how long the monetary authority will need to wait before determining the extent of the Brexit impact on the U.S. economy.
Meanwhile, oil prices rallied on Thursday, extending overnight gains, amid speculation weekly supply data due later in the session will show U.S. crude inventories fell at a faster pace than expected last week.
U.S. crude futures gained 0.86% to $47.84 by 10:59AM GMT, or 6:59AM ET, while Brent oil traded up 0.84% to $49.21.
After markets closed Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories fell by 6.7 million barrels in the week ended July 1, in sharp contrast to Tuesday’s Genscape data that had reported a 230,000 barrel build in inventories at the all-important Cushing, Oklahoma oil trading hub.
On Thursday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 15:00GMT, or 11:00AM ET, amid expectations for a drop of 2.3 million barrels.
The reports come out one day later than usual due to the Independence Day holiday in the U.S. on Monday.
In company news, Whitewave Foods Company (NYSE:WWAV) jumped more than 18% in the pre-market after France’s Danone SA (PA:DANO) moved to double the size of its U.S. business with the $12.5 billion acquisition of the American organic food producer.
After the close on Wednesday, Costco (NASDAQ:COST) reported flat comparable sales in June, better than the 1.5% decline expected by the consensus.
PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) could see upside in Thursday’s session after second quarter earnings per share beat by five cents and revenue also fell less than expected.
Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL), WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC), PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) or Barracuda Networks (NYSE:CUDA) were among those companies set to release quarterly earnings after the market close.
Elsewhere, Asian shares closed largely up as data indicating a strengthening U.S. economy offered a respite to market turmoil following the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union.
Meanwhile, European stocks opened higher on Thursday, following a rebound in the U.S. a day earlier, bolstered by gains in oil prices and signs the U.S. economy remains on track.