Futures Down: Investors look ahead to jobs report.
Rate Decision: European Central Bank to meet Thursday.
Asia Pessimistic: Shares fall after early gains.
Oil Slump: Crude prices down after inventories report.
The Lowdown
A short week on Wall Street may be coming to a bleak ending.
Futures are pointing to a lower open as traders brace for the June employment report. Shortly after 6:30 a.m., Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures were trading below fair value.
All eyes are focused on the employment report, which is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. Forecasters expect the unemployment rate to reach 9.6%, up from 9.4% in May. Non-farm payrolls are expected to decline by 365,000, compared to a decline of 345,000 in May.
World markets were broadly lower. In Europe, stocks fell Thursday ahead of the U.S. jobs report and a rate decision by the European Central Bank. Economists expect the ECB will keep rates at a record low of 1% until the end of 2010. In Asia, markets closed down as traders worried that the U.S. stimulus package isn't doing enough to curb job losses.
In commodities, oil fell Thursday on data showing U.S. petroleum-product inventories rose for the 14th straight week. Crude inventories fell, albeit by less than expected. By 7:25 a.m., crude traded down $1.30 at $68.01 a barrel.
Corporate News
General Motors (GM) could file for an initial public offering in 2010, said Harry Wilson, an auto task force advisor who testified in U.S. bankruptcy court Wednesday. The company was in court to get approval to sell about 60% of its assets to the Treasury. The remainder will be owned by the Canadian government and a union reitree trust fund. GM could exit bankruptcy as soon as this month.
Lear (LEA: 0.48, -0.02, -4.00%) plans to file for bankruptcy after reaching an agreement with secured lenders and bondholders, the company said Wednesday in a statement. The auto supplier is responding to a slowdown in sales brought on by a decline in production on the assembly lines of its major customers.
Exelon (EXC: 51.56, +0.35, +0.68%) raised its hostile takeover bid for NRG Energy (NRG: 26.05, +0.09, +0.34%) by 12% to $7.45 billion after a drop in its share price reduced the premium it had offered. The revised bid is 7.9% higher than NRG's closing price Wednesday.
The Economy
The June employment report is scheduled to be released by the Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. The unemployment rate is expected to reach 9.6%, up from 9.4% in May. Non-farm payrolls are forecast to decline by 365,000, compared to a decline of 345,000 in May. Hourly earnings are expected to rise 0.1% after an increase of 0.1% in May. The average workweek is expected to come in at 33.1 hours, the same as in May.
The weekly jobless claims report for the week ending June 27 is scheduled to be released by the Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. Forecasters expect the number of people filing for state unemployment benefits for the first time last week to come in at 615,000, down from 627,000 in the previous week.
The May factory orders report is sceduled to be released by the Commerce Department at 10 a.m. Factory orders, which reflect demand for durable and non-durable goods, are expected to rise 0.9%, up from a 0.7% increase in April.
