U.S. stock futures edged higher early Thursday as investors eagerly awaited the June jobs report. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), and the S&P 500 (SPX) were up 0.19%, 0.05%, and 0.06%, respectively, at 4:57 a.m. EST, July 3.
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In Wednesday’s trading, the S&P 500 climbed 0.47% to close at a new record high, also reaching a fresh intraday peak. Also, the Nasdaq Composite (NDAQ) surged 0.94% to a record close. However, the Dow Jones was down 0.02%.
Markets reacted after President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the U.S. had reached a trade deal with Vietnam. As part of the agreement, imports from Vietnam will now face a 20% tariff. This news helped lift sentiment, which had earlier been weighed down by a weak jobs report from payroll firm ADP (ADP). That report showed that private-sector hiring fell by 33,000 in June.
In after-hours trading, Datadog (DDOG) surged over 10% after being selected to replace Juniper Networks in the S&P 500 following its acquisition. Meanwhile, Robinhood (HOOD) and AppLovin (APP) dipped slightly after missing out on the inclusion.
Now, traders are eyeing Thursday’s official June jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists expect that 110,000 new jobs were added last month, down from 139,000 in May. The unemployment rate is also expected to rise slightly to 4.3%.
If the jobs report comes in weaker than expected, investors might move money out of tech stocks and into safer, more stable companies, said Jay Hatfield, CEO of Infrastructure Capital Advisors. He added that a disappointing report could also push the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates sooner, possibly even this month.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was down, floating near 4.26%. Simultaneously, WTI crude oil futures are trending lower, hovering near $66.8 per barrel as of the last check. At the same time, the Gold Spot U.S. Dollar Price decreased to nearly $3,354 per ounce on Thursday.
Elsewhere, European stocks opened higher as investors kept an eye on political uncertainty in the U.K. and looked ahead to the upcoming U.S. jobs report.
It’s worth noting that Thursday will be a shorter trading day, with the NYSE and Nasdaq closing early at 1 p.m. ET. U.S. markets will remain closed on Friday in observance of Independence Day.
Asia-Pacific Markets Ended Higher Today
Most Asia-Pacific markets closed higher on Thursday, with the exception of Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which slipped 0.63%. Meanwhile, Vietnamese stocks jumped to their highest level in more than three years as investors looked forward to more details on the U.S.-Vietnam trade deal announced by President Trump on Wednesday.
Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices gained 0.06% and 0.10%, respectively. At the same time, China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indices also closed higher by 0.18% and 1.17%, respectively.
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