Wall Street set to open lower as private jobs data weighs

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[May 04, 2016]  By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - Wall Street looked set to open lower for the second straight day on Wednesday after data showed the private sector added the least number of jobs last month since April 2013.


The ADP private sector employment report showed that 156,000 jobs were added in April. The number fell way below the 196,000 jobs estimated by economists that were polled by Reuters.

The report is a precursor to the more comprehensive government nonfarm payrolls report, which is expected on Friday. A strengthening labor market is expected to influence the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision on future rate hikes.

The Fed, which held monetary policy steady last week, is keeping a keen eye on data, while leaving the door open for a rate hike in June.

World stocks added to losses after lackluster manufacturing data from across the world triggered this week's selling spree, notably the shrinking of Chinese factory activity for the 14th straight month in April and British output falling to its three-year lows.

The S&P 500 has jumped 14 percent since mid-February, helped by recovering oil prices and an accommodative Federal Reserve. However, the index has faltered in the past two weeks due to lackluster earnings reports and mixed economic data.

"I think we are in a range-bound market," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.

"Global-growth fears are going to come back now and then particularly when there are concerns that China is headed for a harder-than-expected fall."

S&P 500 e-minis were down 14 points, or 0.68 percent, with 255,496 contracts traded at 8:26 a.m. ET (1226 GMT). Nasdaq 100 e-minis  were down 34 points, or 0.78 percent, on volume of 32,494 contracts. Dow e-minis were down 106 points, or 0.6 percent, with 35,298 contracts changing hands.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is scheduled to host a town-hall meeting in Rochester, Minnesota, that may touch upon the monetary policy and the economic outlook. Kashkari is a non-voting member of the Fed's policy-setting committee this year.

Shares of Priceline fell 10.7 percent to $1210 in premarket trading after the online travel services company's forecast fell short of expectations.

Time Warner Inc was up 1.8 percent at $75 after the owner of CNN and Cartoon Network reported a higher-than-expected rise in quarterly revenue.

Zillow jumped 13.7 percent to $29.25, a day after the online real estate listings provider raised its full-year revenue outlook.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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