Jobs report ahead, Twitter threatens Meta over Threads - what's moving markets

investing.com:

Investing.com — Investors look ahead to the publication of the latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, hoping that the data will provide some clues into the Federal Reserve's policy outlook. Elsewhere, Twitter threatens to bring a lawsuit against Meta over the Instagram owner's new Threads app, while the Chinese government reportedly gears up to impose a $1.1 billion fine on fintech titan Ant Group.

1. Nonfarm payrolls loom large

Attention will likely zoom in on the unveiling of the June nonfarm payrolls report later today, with investors attempting to suss out the state of the U.S. labor market and gauge the outlook for Federal Reserve policy.

The Labor Department data is anticipated to show that the U.S. economy added 225,000 roles last month, down from 339,000 in May. Growth in average hourly earnings is seen holding steady at 0.3% on a monthly basis, while the unemployment rate is expected to cool slightly to 3.6%.

Fed policymakers have suggested that loosening the tight jobs market is a major pillar of its recent year-long campaign of rate rises aimed at corralling elevated inflation. The Federal Open Market Committee voted to keep borrowing costs steady at their latest meeting, although the move was seen as a temporary measure to give officials more time to assess the impact of the increases on the broader economy.

Comments on Thursday from Dallas Fed president Lorie Logan, as well as minutes from the Fed's June meeting, suggest that the central bank may be about to restart its rate-hiking cycle yet again.

2. U.S. futures see little change ahead of jobs data

U.S. stock futures edged down on Friday, but stayed close to the flatline, as investors awaited the release of the latest jobs report.

At 05:02 ET (09:02 GMT),