US : 5 things to know before the open – 05 Aug 2016
Here are the five things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:
1. How strong is the economy?: The U.S. Labor Department will report how many jobs the nation created in July at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The report reflects the health of the labor market and the broader economy, and is closely watched by investors. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney predict 182,000 jobs were added last month, with unemployment dipping to 4.8% from 4.9%.
The U.S. has gained over 1 million jobs so far this year, but the rate of job creation has been slower than in 2015. Many economists believe that as unemployment falls, and wages pick up, job growth will slow.
2. Earnings: It’s a slower day for earnings, but the day will end with a bang.
Magna(MGA) and Virgin America (VA) are releasing results ahead of the open.
And then Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) will post earnings after the markets close.
3. Stock market movers — Priceline, Kraft Heinz, FireEye, Zynga: Shares in Priceline (PCLN, Tech30) and Kraft Heinz (KHC) are jumped in extended trading after each company posted better-than-expected earnings on Thursday afternoon.
On the flip side, shares in cyber-security firm FireEye (FEYE) look set to plunge at the open after the company reported it was cutting headcount in order to help the firm regain profitability.
And Zynga (ZNGA) stock is heading south as investors reacted poorly to the latest turnaround update from the firm, which is behind online games like FarmVille and Words with Friends.
4. Global market overview: Stock investors seem to be in a cheery mood right now.
European markets are all rising in early trading while most Asian markets ended the day with gains.
But one firm bucking the trend and heading south is the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The British bank reported a £2 billion ($ 2.6 billion) loss in the first six months of the year. Shares in the bank have plunged by nearly 40% since the start of 2016, in part due to concerns about how the U.K.’s Brexit vote could hurt the British banking sector.
5. Thursday market recap: The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 ended the trading day unchanged on Thursday after experiencing some minor bumps and jumps earlier in the week.
The Nasdaq added 0.1%. The index would have to rise just 66 more points to surpass the all-time high it set last summer when it reached 5,232.
