(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures dropped on Friday after a much stronger-than-expected employment report signaled that the labor market remains robust, dimming hopes of a September start to policy easing by the Federal Reserve.
The Labor Department’s report showed Nonfarm Payrolls rose by 272,000 jobs in May, against expectations of an increase of 185,000. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% on a monthly basis, compared to an expectation of 0.3% growth.
Interest rate traders slashed bets on a September rate reduction, now seeing a roughly 56% chance, versus 68% before the data, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool
“It’s the type of report that’s not going to cause the Fed to want to change the course that it has been on, which is to describe the need for higher interest rates and the potential for strong job creation to keep upward pressure on inflation,” said Brian Nick, senior investment strategist at The Macro Institute.
However, the unemployment rate rose to 4% versus an expected 3.9%. Nonfarm Payroll numbers for April and March were also revised lower.
“The fact that you have these two figures, saying such different things, makes it very hard for investors and even harder for central bankers to know exactly what’s going on,” Nick said.
Rate-sensitive megacap technology stocks fell in premarket trading, on track to extend losses from Thursday’s session, with shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) down between 0.3% and 0.5%.
Markets have struggled to anticipate the Fed’s moves this year, as persistently strong economic data quickly dissipated expectations for rate reductions to begin as early as March.
Friday’s numbers pointed to underlying strength in the U.S. labor market, offsetting a string of data over the past two weeks that indicated potential weakness and caused investors to increase bets on a September rate cut.
Fresh inflation data is due next week, just before the Fed ends its two-day policy meeting on June 12. The central bank is expected to hold rates steady.
Among individual names, GameStop (NYSE:GME) dropped 21.6% after announcing a potential stock offering and a drop in quarterly sales. The retailer’s shares had initially surged after stock influencer “Roaring Kitty” looked set to mark his return to YouTube.
Other so-called meme stocks reversed gains, with AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) and Koss Corp down 10.5% and 16.7%, respectively. Retail-focused trading platform Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) gained 2.7%.
At 8:46 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 217 points, or 0.56%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 32.75 points, or 0.61%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 106.5 points, or 0.56%.
Meanwhile, AI darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) slipped 2.2%, on track to extend the previous session’s losses with its valuation dipping below the $3 trillion mark, behind that of Apple, again making it the world’s third most-valuable company.
The chipmaker’s highly anticipated 10-for-1 share split is due after markets close, which could make the more-than-$1,000 stock cheaper for investors.
Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) shares rose 2.3% following a forecast of 15% annual growth in its gross bookings through 2027 after markets closed on Thursday.
Source: Economy - investing.com
