U.S. stock futures were flat on Friday morning as investors await a key jobs report for August that will give more insight into the state of the economy and could determine the pace of future increases in Federal Reserve interest rates.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 6 points. S&P 500 futures were essentially flat. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1%.
The Dow and S&P 500 ended the day higher in the session before the start of September, with four days of losses. The Nasdaq Composite fell, posting its first five-day losing streak since February, weighed down by a drop in semiconductor stocks.
All three major averages are forecast to end the week lower after falling in the last few days of August, on track for their third consecutive negative week. Stocks have been hit by dovish comments from Federal Reserve officials indicating interest rate hikes aren’t going away anytime soon. Now, traders are watching to see if stocks will retest the June lows, especially since September is historically a poor month for the market.
“A half-day rally right before we get jobs numbers tomorrow could simply be that people didn’t want to be as short as the last two days,” Brian Kelly, founder of BKCM LLC, told CNBC. “Fast money”.
Shares of retailer Lululemon rose nearly 10% in premarket trading after reporting quarterly results that beat Wall Street expectations.