Dow Jones futures rose slightly overnight, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures, with Friday’s July jobs report looming large. Tesla (TSLA) shareholders approved a 3-for-1 stock split Thursday evening.
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The stock market rally closed mixed in a relatively quiet Thursday for the major indexes, but there were some big earnings movers.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), Amgen (AMGN) and Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX) reported better-than-expected earnings Thursday night as biotechs remain a leading sector. All closed near buy points and key support levels.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures climbed 0.3% vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.3%.
The Labor Department will release the July jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET. The employment data will certainly swing Dow futures and Treasury yields.
Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn’t necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
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Jobs Report
Economists expect to see nonfarm payrolls rise by 250,000 in the July jobs report, down from 372,000 in June. That would still indicate healthy hiring amid a slowing economy.
Keep an eye on the household survey, which showed a notable employment decrease in June. It’s more error prone than payrolls, but often shows labor market turns first.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.6%, with annual hourly earnings growth slowing just a tick to 5%.
Jobless claims rose to 260,000 in the latest week, the highest in nine months. Job openings, though still high, have come down rapidly in the past two months.
The Federal Reserve, notably Fed chief Jerome Powell, has argued that a soft landing is possible. Investors over the past couple of weeks are starting to buy into the idea that the economy will weaken just enough to cool inflation sufficiently to spur the Federal Reserve to slow and then halt Fed rate hikes, without triggering a big drop in demand and employment.
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Biotech Earnings
VRTX stock tilted lower in overnight trade as Vertex earnings topped views and the biotech giant raised its full-year product revenue target. Shares dipped 0.1% to 274.85, below the 50-day line and buy points of 276.10 and 279.23.
AMGN stock lost 1% in extended action after Amgen earnings topped and the company largely reaffirmed full-year guidance. Shares dipped 0.1% to 246.98 on Thursday, trading near the 50-day line. Amgen stock has a 253.87 handle buy point. The biotech giant announced a $3.7 billion buyout of ChemoCentryx (CCXI) before Thursday’s open.
NBIX stock fell slightly overnight after Neurocrine’s earnings and revenue topped. The company raised revenue guidance on its key drug, but also shelved a treatment that didn’t perform well. Shares rose 2% on Thursday to 95.93, rebounding from…
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