Futures slip on caution ahead of factory, jobs data

2023-08-01 18:15

Wall Street futures edged lower on Tuesday ahead of more economic data that could clear the air on

Wall Street futures edged lower on Tuesday ahead of more economic data that could clear the air on a soft landing for the U.S. economy, while investors also awaited earnings from some major pharma firms.

All eyes will be on the ISM Manufacturing survey which is expected to show that July U.S. factory activity contracted less than the month before. Also on tap will be the Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for June.

The manufacturing and employment surveys are expected at 10 a.m. ET

"Since the release of the softer than expected June U.S. CPI inflation report, the market has been increasingly hopeful that the narrative of a soft landing for the economy will stick," said Jane Foley, head of FX strategy at Rabobank.

Wall Street ended July on a strong footing, riding on the back of better-than-expected earnings, and hopes of a soft landing for the economy which has stayed strong in the face of tighter credit conditions while inflation has cooled.

The benchmark S&P 500 hit a more than 15-month high on Monday, and is 4.7% away from breaching its record intraday high scaled on Jan. 4, 2022.

On the earnings front, Uber and Norwegian Cruise Line climbed over 2.3% each in premarket trading ahead of their quarterly results.

Investors also await reports from drugmakers Merck, Pfizer and global bellwether Caterpillar, all due before the bell.

Second-quarter earnings are expected to fall 6.4% compared with a 7.9% decline estimated a week ago, as per Refinitiv data.

At 5:39 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 112 points, or 0.31%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 14.25 points, or 0.31%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 61.5 points, or 0.39%.

Arista Networks jumped 13.7% after the Santa Clara, California-based firm forecast quarterly revenue above estimates after delivering better-than-expected results, supported by higher demand for its cloud networking gear.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms such as Bilibili, NIO and Alibaba were off between 1.9% and 3.1%, after a survey showed China's factory activity swung to contraction in July, hit by sluggish market conditions at home and abroad.

Traders will also parse commentary by Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, a voting member this year, for clues on the U.S. central bank's monetary policy path.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)