US pre-open: Stocks seen touch weaker ahead of payrolls

US futures pointed to a marginally weaker open on Wall Street as investors looked to the release of the non-farm payrolls report for any clues on the timing of the next rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

At 1100 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were off 0.2%.

Stocks in Europe were also in the red as investors there kept an eye out for the US jobs data.

At the same time, oil prices were a touch weaker, having been much lower earlier as a stronger dollar outweighed supply disruptions caused by the wildfire in Canada.

West Texas Intermediate was down 0.1% to $44.26 a barrel and Brent crude was 0.3% lower at $44.89.

“The US jobs report represents the one dominant event on the mind of every trader today, with volatility largely guaranteed regardless of the figures. ADP weakness earlier in the week points towards possible disappointment, which if true would knock the chance of a June rate hike,” said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG.

“However, with strong economic data elsewhere this week, a strong jobs report would negate the ADP figure and makes June a distinct possibility for a second Fed hike.”

RBC Capital Markets said: “Expectations for today’s headline payrolls release have fallen a little after the weak ADP report.

“The consensus of forecasts that have been refreshed in the last few days is 190K compared to the 200K headline consensus. Our economists have not changed their slightly above-consensus call of 210K.”

Societe Generale was a little more optimistic, however, forecasting an improvement of around 228K. It expects the unemployment rate to have ticked down to 4.9% and average hourly earnings to have increased by 0.3% for a second straight month.

Deutsche Bank went the other way, forecasting a 175,000 jobs gain.

On the corporate front, shares in wearable camera maker GoPro slid in pre-market trade after the company announced late on Thursday that it has fallen further into losses and downgraded its sales guidance for the year.

On the upside, Herbalife advanced after posting better-than-expected first-quarter results on Thursday.

Cigna Corp and Madison Square Garden were among the companies slated to report earnings before the opening bell.