Wall Street Turns Mixed Before May Jobs Report as Nasdaq Futures Drop 1% on AI, Iran Risks
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 5
Wall Street Turns Mixed Before May Jobs Report as Nasdaq Futures Drop 1% on AI, Iran Risks
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 5
Summary
S&P 500 futures fell 0.5%, Dow futures rose 0.1% and Nasdaq futures slid 1% early Friday as traders waited for May payrolls data for clues on hiring.
Analysts expect 105,000 jobs were added in May, down from 115,000 in April, with investors weighing whether AI is curbing entry-level hiring more than triggering layoffs.
Oil held near $93 a barrel in the U.S. and $95 for Brent, up from about $70 before the late-February war, keeping pressure on inflation and corporate hiring plans.
The energy shock persists because the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, and a tentative U.S.-Iran ceasefire extension has still not been finalized amid tensions in Lebanon.
Tech-heavy markets across Asia also weakened—South Korea's Kospi dropped 5.5% and Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.3%—while European indexes traded modestly higher.