Stocks are likely to come under considerable selling pressure in early trading on Friday, as traders react to disappointing employment data. The major index futures are currently pointing to a sharply lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 135 points.
The downward momentum for the markets comes after the Labor Department released its closely watched monthly employment report, showing a lack of job growth in the month of August.
The report said non-farm payroll employment was unchanged in August compared to a downwardly revised increase of 85,000 jobs in July. Economists had been expecting employment to increase by about 60,000 jobs compared to the addition of 117,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The lack of job growth during the month came as a modest increase in private sector employment was offset by another drop in government jobs. A strike by 45,000 Verizon workers also contributed to the disappointing data.
At the same time, the Labor Department said that the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent, unchanged from the previous month and in line with economist estimates.
In corporate news, shares of H&R Block (HRB) could be in focus after the tax preparer reported an adjusted first quarter loss of $0.37 per share compared to analyst estimates for a loss of $0.39 per share. The company said its revenues fell 2.5 percent to $267.6 million, coming in below expectations.
Campbell Soup (CPB) may also attract attention after reporting adjusted fourth quarter earnings of $0.43 per share, above analyst estimates for $0.38 per share. The food maker also reported stronger than expected revenue growth for the quarter.
Meanwhile, shares of Netflix (NFLX) are under pressure in pre-market trading after Starz Entertainment said it has ended contract renewal negotiations with the video rental company. As a result, Netflix will no longer be able to carry Starz programming after the current contract expires on February 28th.
With traders fleeing the markets ahead of the jobs report, stocks showed a substantial downward move over the course of the trading day on Thursday after seeing considerable volatility early in the session.
The major averages ended the day firmly in negative territory, just off their lows for the session. The Dow fell 119.96 points or 0.1 percent at 11,493.57, the Nasdaq dropped 33.42 points or 1.3 percent to 2,546.04 and the S&P 500 slid 14.47 points or 1.2 percent to 1,204.42.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed mostly lower on Friday, giving back some ground following recent strength. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index snapped a six-day winning streak and fell by 1.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped by 1.8 percent.
The major European markets have also come under considerable selling pressure on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is falling by 2.2 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are plunging by 3.3 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are futures are sliding $1.37 to $87.56 a barrel after advancing $0.12 to $88.93 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, gold futures, which fell $2.60 to $1,829.10 an ounce in the previous session, are currently rising $35.60 to $1,864.70 an ounce.
Among currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 76.6605 yen compared to the 76.9278 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.4235 compared to yesterday's $1.4259.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.