US futures tick higher before data; oil climbs

Bloomberg

US equity futures edged higher and European shares were steady as investors awaited data on the labor market after cautious commentary from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting. Oil snapped a two-day drop.
Contracts on the S&P 500 rise 0.2% and those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up 0.3%, as Amazon.com Inc rose in premarket trading after saying it will lay off more than 18,000 employees. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was also positive, erasing earlier losses, with retailers leading gains after Next Plc raised its profit forecast.
In Asia, a rally in Chinese mainland and Hong Kong equity gauges was helped by news the border with China will gradually reopen.
Investors are looking to a private US jobs report later today and nonfarm payrolls on Friday for clues on the labour market and its implications for monetary policy, after Fed minutes showed officials cautioned against underestimating their will to keep interest rates high for some time. While US stocks pared gains after the minutes, traders are still pricing in rate cuts by end-2023.
“Pricing in the market still shows that investors continue to bet that the Fed will start cutting rates before the end of this year,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. “Yes, there are some data pointing at slowing economic activity in the US, but the jobs market – which is closely watched by the Fed – remains surprisingly tight.”
The dollar was little changed, while Treasuries were steady after the prior day’s gains.
Elsewhere, crude oil clawed back some losses after falling 9.5% in the past two days, with traders assessing the outlook for China’s demand and the impact of cold US weather on
inventories.
The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed as of 10:08 am London time and S&P 500 futures were little changed.
While Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1%, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.6%.