Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to lower open on Friday, after highly anticipated employment data disappointed market expectations, adding to concerns over the strength of the U.S. economic recovery, while global growth worries persisted.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a drop of 0.65%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.85% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.61% decline.
Sentiment came under pressure after data showed that the U.S. economy created 80,000 jobs in June, disappointing expectations for a 90,000 increase, while the unemployment rate held steady at 8.2%, reflecting continued slow growth in the economy.
Employment data is the most closely watched indicator as to whether the Federal Reserve will step in with additional monetary easing, as recent data has painted a fairly gloomy picture of the world's biggest economy's.
Meanwhile, a series of stimulus measures announced by the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the People's Bank of China on Thursday added to an overal downbeat global outlook for growth.
Earlier Friday, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde voiced concern over a slowdown in developed and big emerging economies, echoing concerns voiced by ECB President Mario Draghi who said on Thursday that the euro zone economy would recover only gradually.
Financial stocks were expected to be active, following sharp losses in European lenders. In addition, Goldman Sachs reportedly secured three properties in Tokyo for JPY25 billion as its asset management unit prepares to set up a private real estate investment trust, Shigeki Kiritani. Shares in the U.S. lender tumbled 1.22% in pre-market trade.
Meanwhile, JP Morgan dropped 0.84% in early trading, after a U.S. judge ordered the bank on Thursday to turn over 25 internal emails, as part of an investigation into whether it manipulated electricity markets in California and the Midwest.
Energy stocks were also slated to move on Friday, as oil prices tumbled more than 3% earlier. Oil and gas majors Halliburton and Chevron were down 1.96% and 0.89% in early trade.
Elsewhere, Amazon was likely to be in focus, as shares declined 0.49% in pre-market trade amid reports the company is developing a smartphone that would compete with Apple's iPhone and handheld devices that run Google's Android operating system.
Also in the Internet sector, the race to become Yahoo’s next chief executive came down to two candidates on Friday: current interim chief executive Ross Levinsohn and Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, according to a Reuters report. Yahoo shares were down 0.82% in early trading.
In other company news, Buyout firm KKR was reportedly planning to take over German cutlery and coffee machines maker WMF for at least EUR587 million euros.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 plunged 1.38%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.99%, Germany's DAX tumbled 1%, while Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.51%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index eased up 0.06%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dropped 0.69%.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a drop of 0.65%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.85% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.61% decline.
Sentiment came under pressure after data showed that the U.S. economy created 80,000 jobs in June, disappointing expectations for a 90,000 increase, while the unemployment rate held steady at 8.2%, reflecting continued slow growth in the economy.
Employment data is the most closely watched indicator as to whether the Federal Reserve will step in with additional monetary easing, as recent data has painted a fairly gloomy picture of the world's biggest economy's.
Meanwhile, a series of stimulus measures announced by the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the People's Bank of China on Thursday added to an overal downbeat global outlook for growth.
Earlier Friday, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde voiced concern over a slowdown in developed and big emerging economies, echoing concerns voiced by ECB President Mario Draghi who said on Thursday that the euro zone economy would recover only gradually.
Financial stocks were expected to be active, following sharp losses in European lenders. In addition, Goldman Sachs reportedly secured three properties in Tokyo for JPY25 billion as its asset management unit prepares to set up a private real estate investment trust, Shigeki Kiritani. Shares in the U.S. lender tumbled 1.22% in pre-market trade.
Meanwhile, JP Morgan dropped 0.84% in early trading, after a U.S. judge ordered the bank on Thursday to turn over 25 internal emails, as part of an investigation into whether it manipulated electricity markets in California and the Midwest.
Energy stocks were also slated to move on Friday, as oil prices tumbled more than 3% earlier. Oil and gas majors Halliburton and Chevron were down 1.96% and 0.89% in early trade.
Elsewhere, Amazon was likely to be in focus, as shares declined 0.49% in pre-market trade amid reports the company is developing a smartphone that would compete with Apple's iPhone and handheld devices that run Google's Android operating system.
Also in the Internet sector, the race to become Yahoo’s next chief executive came down to two candidates on Friday: current interim chief executive Ross Levinsohn and Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, according to a Reuters report. Yahoo shares were down 0.82% in early trading.
In other company news, Buyout firm KKR was reportedly planning to take over German cutlery and coffee machines maker WMF for at least EUR587 million euros.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply lower. The EURO STOXX 50 plunged 1.38%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.99%, Germany's DAX tumbled 1%, while Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.51%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index eased up 0.06%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dropped 0.69%.