Futures contracts up, bond yields down



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US equity futures were up on Friday, ahead of May's employment report, which – if the numbers are weaker than expected – could put additional pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut back on the stock market. interest rate.

Analysts expect employers to have created an additional 185,000 jobs last month after rising 263,000 in April. The unemployment rate is expected to remain stable at 3.6%, according to Refinitiv economists – the lowest level since December 1969.

But if the number of jobs created is lower than expected, anticipate further calls to the Federal Reserve to reduce the federal funds key rate from the current range of 2.25% to 2.5%.

"Today's Fed has hinted at a rate cut this year because of trade tensions. A lower-than-expected jobs report would increase those chances, "said Dan North, chief economist at Euler Hermes North America.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell hinted that US central bank decision-makers were willing to cut rates to support record-breaking growth as they watched the impact of the move. of world trade on the US economic outlook. Merchants are also increasingly relying on at least one rate cut by July and possibly two by the January FOMC meeting.

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Shares of Beyond Meat jumped 23.5% in pre-market trading after the maker of sausages and herbal burgers announced that it was more than doubling its revenue in 2019.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.25%, the S & P 500 0.27% and the Nasdaq Composite 0.34%.

After six weeks down for the Dow, and four straight for the S & P 500 and Nasdaq, the major averages are finally in line with solid gains this week. The Dow and the S & P 500 are on their best weeks since November 30, while the Nasdaq is on its way to its best week since early April.

The 10-year US Treasury yield edged down to 2.12% on Friday.

Crude oil prices rose: West Texas Intermediate climbed 0.91% to $ 53.07 per barrel. The price of Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, rose 1% to 62.28 dollars a barrel.

Thursday, the Dow closed up 181 points (+ 0.7%) and is on track to win its longest streak of wins in almost three months. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also won.

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Chinese markets were closed on a public holiday, but the Nikkei 225 in Japan dropped 0.53% and the Korean benchmark Kospi gained 0.2%.

The British FTSE 100 gained 0.86%, the French CAC 40 1.49% and the German DAX 0.78%.

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