S&P futures flat as investors bide time until key economic reports

[June 02, 2021]  By Medha Singh

(Reuters) - The latest leg of a surge in so-called "meme stocks" stood out in early moves on Wall Street on Wednesday, while futures tracking the main stock indexes were broadly flat ahead of closely watched economic data this week.

A weekly unemployment report and May's private payrolls data on Thursday will be followed by the crucial monthly jobs numbers on Friday. Investors are closely tracking the labor market's recovery after an unexpected slowdown in jobs growth in April fanned inflation worries.

The S&P 500 slipped after three straight days of gains on Tuesday as losses in healthcare and technology stocks overshadowed gains in economically sensitive financials and energy after upbeat U.S. factory activity data.

The benchmark S&P 500 has recovered most of its losses from a more than 4% pullback in mid-May on fears over rising prices and a subsequent tightening of policy from the Federal Reserve. The index is now just about 1% from its peak.

The blue-chip Dow and the tech-laden Nasdaq are about 1.5% and 3% from their respective all-time highs.

At 6:10 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 42 points, or 0.12%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.75 points, or 0.02%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 10 points, or 0.07%.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc surged 30.9% to $41.93 in premarket trading, eyeing a record high with its stock trading 11 times analysts' median target price.

Zoom Video Communications Inc gained 2.8% after it forecast current-quarter revenue above estimates.

Etsy Inc rose 1% after the company said it would acquire Depop, a privately held fashion marketplace, for $1.63 billion, as the online seller looks to attract Gen-Z consumers.

Later in the day, investors will turn to the Fed's Beige Book report, which will give a glimpse of the state of the economy based on conversations with business contacts.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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