By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening largely unchanged Tuesday, off recent highs after the disappointing August jobs report, with Boeing (NYSE:BA)in the spotlight after losing out on aircraft orders.
At 7:05 AM ET (1105 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 20 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures traded basically unchanged, while Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 13 points, or 0.1%, in thin trading following Monday's public holiday.
Major indices retreated from record highs on Friday after nonfarm payrolls only increased by 235,000 in August, a sharp drop from over one million jobs gained the previous month. Although this has increased expectations the Federal Reserve will delay the start of its bond-buying tapering, it has also raised concerns about the strength and pace of the country’s economic recovery.
Influential investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has downgraded its forecast for growth in the U.S. economy this year, now seeing GDP expansion in 2021 of 5.7%, compared with 6% at the end of August.
“The hurdle for strong consumption growth going forward appears much higher: the Delta variant is already weighing on Q3 growth, and fading fiscal stimulus and a slower service sector recovery will both be headwinds in the medium term,” said Goldman analysts, in a note Monday.
In corporate news, Boeing (NYSE:BA) stock traded lower premarket after European budget airline Ryanair (LON:RYA), one of the U.S. aircraft manufacturer’s largest customers, ended negotiations about an order for 737 MAX jets due to differences over price.
AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) will also be in focus after the cinema chain benefited from positive reaction to the release of Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ movie, which rang up an estimated $90 million on its debut weekend in North American cinemas, a record for a Labor Day weekend debut.
Crude prices sold off Tuesday, continuing Monday’s selloff after Saudi Arabia, the world’s top exporter, sharply cut its prices for Asian buyers over the weekend, suggesting slowing demand.
Earlier Tuesday Chinese trade data showed stronger than expected exports, but imports of crude were still running at more than 1 million barrels a day below February levels in August, despite rising 8% from July.
Markets are also contending with the decision of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, to continue adding crude to the global market, as well as the ongoing impact on U.S. supply from Hurricane Ida.
By 7:05 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.1% lower at $68.53 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.4% to $71.97.
Additionally, gold futures fell 1.2% to $1,812.15/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.1873.