Futures little changed ahead of June payrolls report

[July 07, 2017]  By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Friday, with the June non-farm payrolls data firmly on investors' minds amid rising expectations of tighter monetary policy.

* Investors are focused on wage growth and whether spending by consumers will be strong enough to back the Federal Reserve's plan to raise interest rates once more this year.

* Nonfarm payrolls increased by 179,000 jobs last month after gaining 138,000 in May, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The Labor Department's closely watched report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT).

* Policymakers have taken opposing views on inflation after it retreated below the central bank's 2 percent target in May, creating uncertainty over the future path of rate hikes.

* Adding to the jitters are bets that the world's major central banks are moving closer to unwinding their ultra-loose monetary policies.

* Oil fell 3 percent after data showed U.S. production rose last week just as OPEC exports hit a 2017 high. Oil prices are down more than 16 percent this year, adding to low inflation concerns.

* Oil majors Exxon and Chevron were down about 0.3 percent in premarket trading.

* U.S. stocks ended sharply lower on Thursday due to a steep fall in technology stocks and a disappointing private sector hiring report. Rising tensions in the Korean peninsula also added to the pressure.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., July 5, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

* Investors will be watching for developments from the G20 summit, which is underway in Germany, with focus on President Donald Trump's first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

* Tesla rose 1.8 percent after the luxury electric carmaker won an Australian contract to install the world's biggest grid-scale battery. Tesla's shares have fallen about 15 percent this week following the company's lower-than-expected deliveries.

Futures snapshot at 6:58 a.m. ET:

* Dow e-minis were down 5 points, or 0.02 percent, with 16,205 contracts changing hands.

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.5 points, or 0.02 percent, with 95,748 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 7 points, or 0.13 percent, on volume of 17,598 contracts.

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

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