Futures steady ahead of September jobs data

[October 05, 2018]   By Medha Singh

(Reuters) - U.S. stock futures were flat on Friday as Treasury yields hovered near multi-year highs ahead of jobs data that is expected to offer clues on future interest rate hikes.

A surge in bond yields has weighed on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posting their worst day since late June on Thursday.

Fears of accelerating inflation, especially after a string of strong economic data and bullish views from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, have dampened the appetite for stocks.

Data from the Labor Department is expected to show non-farm payrolls rose by 185,000 jobs in September after increasing 201,000 a month earlier. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Average hourly earnings are forecast to have risen 0.3 percent after gaining 0.4 percent in August.

The fresh set of data is expected to keep the Fed on track to raise interest rates again in December and suggest the U.S. central bank's tightening cycle is unlikely to end any time soon.

At 7:34 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 23 points, or 0.09 percent. S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were up 1 points, or 0.03 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were down 5.25 points, or 0.07 percent.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., September 21, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Among stocks, Tesla <TSLA.O> shares fell over 3 percent in premarket trading after Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk stirred nerves about the settlement of his securities fraud lawsuit by mocking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Twitter.

Generic drugmaker Mylan <MYL.O> slipped 1.2 percent after Mizuho downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy".

Snap Inc <SNAP.N> rose about 5 percent on a report that CEO Evan Spiegel has set a goal to achieve full-year profitability in 2019 and outlined a new set of strategic goals, citing a memo.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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