U.S. stock-index futures pointed to a lower open on Friday, extending the recent weakness that has been seen in the equity market as the April jobs report came in below expectations.
Trade talks between the U.S. and China were also drawing attention, as the second day of discussions took place. The U.S. has reportedly handed Beijing’s team a lengthy list of demands aimed at cutting the trade imbalance between the two.
What did the main benchmarks do?
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YMM8, -0.41%[1] were down 103 points, or 0.4%, to 23,806, while S&P 500 futures ESM8, -0.39%[2] ESM8, -0.39%[3] slipped 10.30 points, or 0.4%, to 2,621.25. Nasdaq-100 futures NQM8, -0.48%[4] fell 31.50 points, or 0.5%, to 6,633.
On Thursday[5], the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.02%[6] recovered from a decline of as many as 394 points and closed up less than 0.1%, to 23,930.15, ending a four-session slide. The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.23%[7] dropped 0.2% to 2,629.75, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.18%[8] closed 0.2% lower at 7,088.15.
For the week, the Dow industrials were set for a 1.6% slide as of Thursday’s close, while the S&P 500 was looking at a 1.5% fall and the Nasdaq at a 0.4% decline.
What’s driving markets?
The U.S. created 164,000 new jobs in April, below the 188,000 that had been expected[9]. Separately, the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% from 4.1%, the first time the jobless rate has dropped below 4% since the end of 2000.
In Beijing, U.S. and Chinese officials were meeting for discussions on tariffs and other trade issues. Worries about trade hostilities between the top two global economies have roiled financial markets in recent months.
Read: Here’s how sensitive the stock market has become to ‘trade war’ talk[10]
The U.S. has...