Stocks are higher in premarket trading and bond yields are falling after the U.S. government delivered the latest in a series of weak reports on the job market. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq gained 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell slightly. In the bond market, yields on Treasurys fell after the government said U.S. employers added just 22,000 jobs last month as the labor market continued to cool under uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s economic policies. The slowdown in the job market could bolster the case for Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate in a couple weeks.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Early trading on Wall Street was mixed ahead of the government's August report on the U.S. labor market, data which could determine whether the Federal Reserve cuts its benchmark lending rate for the first time this year.
Futures for S&P 500 rose 0.3% and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 0.1%. Futures for the Nasdaq, where most of the big technology companies trade, climbed 0.5%, following a glowing report and forecast from chipmaker Broadcom.
Broadcom's third-quarter revenue beat Wall Street expectations as its AI revenue grew 63% over the same period a year ago. The California company issued strong fourth-quarter guidance that it says will come in 24% higher than last year's quarter. Its shares jumped 11.9% in premarket trading.
On the losing side early was Lululemon, the yoga and athletic gear maker, which tumbled 19.5% before the bell. The company fell short of its second-quarter revenue guidance and blamed slumping U.S. sales.
The government issues its August jobs report before the opening bell on Friday, with most analysts expecting another small gain in private non-farm payrolls.
Last month’s grim July jobs report, which showed job gains of just 73,000 and included massive downward revisions for June and May, sent financial markets spiraling.
President Donald Trump fired the head of the agency that compiles the monthly data.
New jobs numbers are closely watched on Wall Street and by the Fed as the most recent government data suggests hiring has slowed sharply since this spring. Many companies have pulled back on expansion projects amid the uncertainty surrounding the impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
The sluggishness in the job market is a key reason that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that the central bank may cut its key interest rate at its next meeting Sept. 16-17. A cut could reduce other borrowing costs in the economy, including mortgages, auto loans, and business loans.
While such cuts to interest rates can kickstart the economy and job market, they can also accelerate inflation.
Elsewhere, at midday in Europe, Germany's DAX index added 0.2% to 23,815.68, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 9,246.59. In Paris, the CAC 40 edged up 0.1% to 7,707.13.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added over 1% to 43,018.75 after data released Friday showed Japan's labor cash earnings rose 4.1% year-on-year in July, up from 3.1% in June. Another report showed household spending climbed 1.4% in July from the same month a year ago, marking growth for the third month in a row.
President Donald Trump also signed an executive order Thursday implementing the U.S. trade deal with Japan negotiated in July, with lower tariffs on Japanese car imports.
“Solid wage growth is likely to support recovery in spending and sustainable inflation,” ING Economics said in a commentary, adding Friday’s data reinforces its expectation that the Bank of Japan will hike rates in October.
Chinese markets rebounded after three days of decline. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.5% to 25,434.93, while the Shanghai Composite index added 1.2% to 3,812.51.
South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.1% to 3,205.12, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 8,871.20.
Taiwan's Taiex jumped 1.3%, while India’s BSE Sensex bucked the trend, falling less than 0.1%.
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