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Wall St set for lower open after c.bank moves, data

NEW YORK - Wall Street was set for a slightly lower open on Thursday in the wake of a slew of economic data and moves by global central banks to provide further monetary stimulus.

Data showed US private employers added 176,000 jobs in June, beating economists’ expectations. Separate data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week fell by the most in two months.

China’s central bank cut interest rates for the second time in two months on Thursday, in the latest attempt to bolster slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Benchmark lending rates will be cut by 31 basis points to 6 percent, and deposit rates will be reduced by 25 basis points to 3 percent.

But market reaction to further monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England was not that positive.

“We’ve now seen two jobs reports today that were pleasantly surprising ahead of tomorrow’s June payroll figure. The markets’ response, though, is muted as policy actions by the central banks weren’t unexpected and maybe decent US jobs data won’t compel the Fed to do more QE,” said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.

As expected, the ECB cut its main interest rate to a record low of 0.75 percent and its deposit rate to zero, while the BoE launched a third round of monetary stimulus, saying it would make 50 billion pounds of asset purchases with newly created money to help lift the economy out of recession.

S&P 500 futures fell 3.1 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures shed 49 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures inched down 1.75 points.

Trading was expected to be light and volatile.

“It is a very light day, many people are out. I would expect movements to be exaggerated because of the lack of liquidity,” said Rick Meckler, president of hedge fund LibertyView Capital Management LLC in Jersey City, New Jersey.

US markets were closed for Independence Day on Wednesday. US stocks had rallied in the previous three sessions, as sharp gains in oil prices lifted energy shares and traders factored in increased expectations for central bank stimulus.

Costco and other retail chains reported June sales on Thursday that missed Wall Street’s already lowered expectations, as spending was hurt by high unemployment and waning consumer confidence. Costo shares were down 1.2 percent in premarket trading.