Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Slip Ahead Of July Jobs Data — Trump Tariffs, Mixed Big Tech Earnings Dent Sentiment

U.S. stocks are set to begin August on a lackluster note, with the major index futures pointing to a modestly lower opening on Friday.

President Donald Trump’s announcement of more stringent tariff measures, which are set to take effect on Aug. 7, may serve as a pushback for risk sentiment, as traders remain cautious about the July non-farm payrolls report, due before the market opens.

The market showed a mixed reaction to Thursday’s “Big Tech” earnings, with Apple stock rising in response to strong quarterly revenue growth. In contrast, Amazon’s soft cloud revenue growth and operating income guidance triggered a sell-off. 

As of 3:10 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq 100, the S&P 500, Dow and Russell 2000 futures were all down over 0.35%.

On Thursday, stocks succumbed to concerns about tariffs and macroeconomic worries, which offset the optimism generated by solid quarterly results from Meta and Microsoft.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the Nasdaq 100 Index, fell 0.53%, and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) slipped 0.38%. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) plunged 0.77% and 0.98%, respectively. 

Yet, for the month, the ETFs were up 2.42%, 2.30%, 0.20% and 1.7%, respectively.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release the July jobs data at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists, on average, expect the economy to have added 100,000 jobs in the month, slower than the 147,000 addition in the previous month.

The jobless rate is expected to tick up to 4.2% from 4.1%, and the year-over-year rate of the average hourly wages may have edged up to 3.8% from 3.7%.

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack is due to make a TV appearance at 9:10 a.m. ET.

Traders may also focus on the final reading of the S&P’s July manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing PMI, and the final University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index.

Among the key earnings reports due for the day are those from CBOE Global Markets (CBOE), oil giant Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Dominion Energy (D), EchoStar (SATS), Kimberly-Clark (KMB), Moderna (MRNA), and Regeneron Pharma (REGN).

Crude oil and futures traded modestly lower early Friday, while the 10-year Treasury note yield rebounded after Thursday’s drop. The dollar was firmer against most major currencies, except the pound, Swiss franc, and the Canadian dollar. 

Major Asian markets, except for those in Indonesia and Malaysia, retreated as traders assessed the tariff developments and remained cautious ahead of the U.S. jobs data.

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