Wall Street poised to open higher
U.S. stock market looks set for more gains on Friday ahead of the eagerly awaited employment report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect the report to show the economy added 185,000 jobs in May, while unemployment rate held at a 50-year low of 3.6%, according to Bloomberg.
Hourly wages are expected to have risen by 0.3% last month. Market participants believe Federal Reserve policy makers are likely to move toward a cut to benchmark interest rates if they see signs of cracks in the U.S. labor market.
As of 5:22 a.m. ET, futures on the blue-chip rose 82.5 points, or 0.32% to 25,827.5. Futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up 29.50 points, or 0.41% to 7,311.75 while those on broader S&P 500 climbed 8.87 points, or 0.31% to 2,854.62.
U.S.-Mexico talks to continue today, Mike Pence says
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday that the 5% tariff on all Mexican goods remain on track to kick in on June 10, but talks between the two countries will continue today. Both sides failed to reach an agreement when they met for a second day on Thursday at the State Department.
“At this point the tariffs are going to be imposed on Monday. I’m encouraged they came today with more but it will be a matter for the president to consider,” Pence told reporters.
Mexico has offered to deploy 6,000 national guard troops on its porous border with Guatemala, a move the country says will reduce the flow of illegal immigrants heading to the U.S.
Zoom Video soars after posting solid earnings
Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ: ZM) posted upbeat fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue late Thursday, and provided strong outlook for the current quarter. The company reported earnings of 3 cents per share on revenue of $122 million.
Analysts were expecting Zoom to come out with earnings of just under 1 cent on revenue of $111.7 million. For the second quarter, Zoom sees revenue of between $129 million and $130 million.
Shares of the video-conferencing company rallied 12.68% to 89.50 in premarket trading Friday following the results. The stock has more than doubled in value since the company went public in April.
Tech giant IBM announces 1,700 job cuts
International Business Machines Corp (NYSE: IBM) has told CNBC that it is laying off about 1,700 employees, confirming posts that appeared on online message board TheLayoff. The job cuts are expected to affect “half of one percent” of IBM employees, CNBC reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The tech giant is trimming workforce to streamline its businesses, according to reports. Shares of IBM have gained 16% since the beginning of the year.
