By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures edged lower Thursday,
with investors set to sift through figures on the labor market and
as well as assess comments from the head of the Cleveland Federal
Reserve Bank.
The market will also get a snapshot from the housing sector with
a quarterly report from home builder Hovnanian Enterprises.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4) were off 13
points, or 0.1%, at 17,061, and those for the S&P 500 index
(SPU4) shed 1 point at 1,997.80. Nasdaq 100 futures (NDU4) was down
8.8 points, or 0.2%, to 4,063.
U.S. stocks on Wednesday ended mostly lower, leaving the S&P
500 index (SPX) and the Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) in the red for the
session.
Data: The day's key report will be ADP's report on hiring in the
private sector, slated to arrive at 8:15 a.m. Eastern. The
country's largest payroll-processing firm is expected to show the
economy added around 230,000 jobs last month.
The ADP report will be followed by the 8:30 a.m. release of the
government's weekly update on jobless claims, which are likely to
stay near the 300,000 mark. That level suggests the labor market
remains on its growth track.
"Jobless claims could tick higher but healthy readings over the
past few weeks give us the confidence to believe that job growth
exceeded 200,000 last month," said Kathy Lien, managing director at
BK Asset Management, in a late Wednesday note. Economists expects
the creation of . That report comes Friday.
A look at the service sector will come from the Institute for
Supply Management at 10 a.m. Eastern. Economists polled by
MarketWatch expect the ISM's index to come in at 57.2%. Service
providers employ more than 80% of American workers.
Figures on the July trade deficit and second-quarter U.S.
productivity are each slated for release at 8:30 a.m.
The slew of reports will lead up to a speech by Cleveland
Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester at 12:30 p.m. Mester, who
is a voting member of the Fed policy committee, will talk about her
economic outlook at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh. This will mark
Mester's second public speaking event since she took over as head
of the Cleveland Fed on June 1, Goldman Sachs noted.
Stocks to Watch: Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV) is expected to
report higher quarterly profit and sales, of 9 cents a share and
$563 million, respectively.
Family Dollar Stores (FDO) may be on the move Thursday following
a Reuters report that activist investor Carl Icahn sold off the
rest of his stake in the discount retailer.
Apple (AAPL) shares on Wednesday dropped more than 4% from
all-time highs, a week ahead of the company's highly anticipated
iPhone event.
Other markets: European stocks slipped ahead of the European
Central Bank's monetary policy decision, with investors waiting to
see if the bank will launch full-scale quantitative easing. Asian
stocks ended mixed, with the Nikkei Average in Tokyo down by
0.3%.
The U.S. dollar index (DXY) was little changed from Wednesday's
close at 82.865. Oil futures (CLV4) were modestly lower, but gold
futures (GCZ4) tacked on more than $2 an ounce.
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