Wall Street got a shot in the arm from the long-awaited European Central Bank meeting and rate cut, putting equities back on the path to challenge record highs after taking a breather on Wednesday. However, there is still an undercurrent of caution before Friday's non-farm payrolls which could show a small increase in the jobless rate. The Labor Department is expected to announce 213,000 new jobs were added in May, but with an increase in the unemployment rate to 6.4%. This follows Wednesday's disappointing ADP report in which private payrolls were up by a much less-than-expected 179,000.
Besides ADP, initial claims this morning was also disappointing as new unemployment claims for the week ended May 31 rose 8,000 to 312,000, following an upward revision to the week prior of 4,000 to 304,000. Although the increase in claims is less than expected, the level beat estimates by 2,000.
In M&A news, Sprint ( S ) has offered $40 per share for rival T-Mobile ( TMUS ), a deal valued at approximately $50 billion that would merge the third and fourth largest wireless carriers. Shares of both companies are higher in pre-market.
-Dow Jones Industrial up 0.32%
-S&P 500 futures up 0.22%
-Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.17%
SENTIMENT
Nikkei up 0.08%
Hang Seng down 0.18%
Shanghai Composite up 0.79%
FTSE-100 up 0.30%
DAX-30 up 1.39%
PRE-MARKET SECTOR WATCH
(+) Large cap tech: higher
(+) Chip stocks: higher
(+) Software stocks: higher
(+/-) Hardware stocks: mixed
(+) Internet stocks: higher
(+) Drug stocks: higher
(+) Financial stocks: higher
(+/-) Retail stocks: mixed
(+) Industrial stocks: higher
(+/-) Airlines: flat
(+) Autos higher
UPSIDE MOVERS:
(+) CIEN (+14.80%) Beat on earnings and guiding Q3 revenue above consensus
(+) NEWL (+24.19%) Gets temporary restraining order stopping issuance of shares
(+) HALO (+15.72%) Gets FDA ok to resume pancreatic cancer treatment trial
DOWNSIDE MOVERS:
(-) NVAX (-7.68%) Announced plans to offer to sell $100 million of its common stock
(-) PVH (-6.31%) Brean Capital cuts price target $5 to $145
(-) RCAP (-7.12%) Prices $384 million common stock offering
(-) VRA (-12.48%) Q1 revenue fell more than expected and the company forecast Q2 results below analysts' estimates while cutting its guidance for the fiscal year.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
