U.S. futures slip, bonds in focus, jobs data ahead - what's moving markets
Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures were broadly lower as traders awaited a batch of fresh labor market data over the final two days of the trading week. Meanwhile, attention remains focused on the bond market after a rally in sovereign debt on Wednesday provided some relief to battered stock markets, and crude prices remain on the back foot after their steepest one-day decline in over a year.
1. Futures point lower
U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Thursday, with investors gearing up for the release of crucial labor market data.
At 05:24 ET (09:24 GMT), the Dow futures contract was 129 points or 0.4% lower, S&P 500 futures shed 18 points or 0.4%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had lost 55 points or 0.3%.
On Wednesday, the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4%, ending a three-day losing streak, while the benchmark S&P 500 rose by 0.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped by 1.4%.
Boosting the main indices on Wall Street were numbers from payrolls processor ADP which showed that private job growth came in at 89,000 in September, far below estimates of 160,000.
The figures reignited hopes that the labor market in the world's largest economy is slowing, which could give the Federal Reserve less headroom to keep policy restrictive for a longer period of time. This prospect helped partly stem a recent sell-off in government bonds, relieving some downward pressure on equities.
2. Bond yields in focus
Traders are keeping a close eye on sovereign bonds over the final days of the trading week, particularly on whether government debt yields may flag the potential risk of an incoming recession.
The closely-watched 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury yields both inched higher on Thursday, in a
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