U.S. stock futures extended losses today after the monthly jobs report’s headline number surpassed expectations.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 50 points to 17,875, while those for the S&P 500 index fell 6.5 points to 2,093. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 slipped 25.50 points to 4,481.
The Labor Department said the U.S. economy generated 280,000 new jobs in May, beating the gain of 210,000 that was expected by economists polled by MarketWatch. The unemployment rate edged up to 5.5 percent from 5.4 percent, but mainly because more people entered the labor force in search of work. Economists had expected an unchanged unemployment rate of 5.4 percent.
The better-than-expected headline number appeared to boost bets that an interest-rate hike is likely this year by the Federal Reserve.
The May jobs report comes amid fresh concerns about economic growth and what it means for an eventual increase in U.S. interest rates. Yesterday, the International Monetary Fund cut its forecasts for U.S. growth and called for the Federal Reserve to hold off on its first rate increase until 2016. Also yesterday, Fed Gov. Daniel Tarullo said the economy appears to have “lost some momentum.”
European stocks tumbled after Greece opted to bundle its June loan payments to the International Monetary Fund, and the country and its creditors continued to struggle over a deal to unlock bailout funds.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras demanded changes to tough terms from international creditors for aid to stave off default. Tsipras is set to address the Greek parliament at 11:00 a.m. The yield on Greece’s 10-year bond jumped, while the yield on the German bund was also climbing.
FED SPEAKERS:
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley speaks before the Economic Club of Minnesota June Luncheon, in Minneapolis, Minnesota at 12:40 a.m. Investors will keep an eye on the speech for his take on the monthly jobs data.
MOVERS:
LightInTheBox (NYSE:LITB) fell 3.3 percent in premarket trading a day after the Chinese online retailer forecast second-quarter revenue below analysts' expectations.
Lightbridge (NASDAQ:LTBR) jumped 12.2 percent to $1.93 after the nuclear fuel technology company was granted a patent by South Korea for a metallic nuclear fuel design.
J.A Solar (NASDAQ:JASO) surged 14 percent after the maker of solar cells received a proposal to go private.
Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) slid 0.7 percent in early trading after the healthcare services company said it will buy privately-held generics company The Harvard Drug Group in a deal valued at $1.115 billion.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU) dropped 2.1 percent after one of its units said it may have missed deadlines to notify customers in five recall campaigns.
Liberty Global Plc (NASDAQ:LBTYA) gained 1 percent after Vodafone Group Plc said it’s in talks to swap assets with the world’s largest cable company.
Under Armour (NYSE:UA) advanced 1.1 percent in premarket trading after D.A. Davidson & Co. recommended buying the shares of the sporting-goods company.
AES (NYSE:AES) rose 0.5 percent after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its rating on the utility to overweight, similar to buy.
COMMODITIES:
Gold futures lost 0.2 percent to $1172.40 an ounce.
Crude-oil futures added 0.6 percent to $58.35 a barrel.
OTHER MARKETS:
Greek stocks were hit hard after the government decided to bundle its loan repayments to the IMF this month into one payment at the end of June. Greece’s main stock index lost 5.1 percent.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite topped 5,000 to reach the highest level since January 2008, in a week of sharp volatility for Chinese stocks. The index closed up 1.5 percent.