Elsewhere, Trump signed an executive order Thursday implementing his trade agreement with Japan, under which the US will impose a maximum 15% tariff on most of its products.
China’s stock markets will once again be in focus after shares fell more than 2% Thursday. The country’s financial regulators are considering a number of cooling measures for the stock market as they grow concerned about the speed of recent gains.
Meanwhile, traders are now positioning themselves for the key jobs reading. Consensus forecasts peg nonfarm payrolls having grown 75,000 in August, which would mark a fourth straight month of job growth below 100,000. The unemployment rate is seen rising to 4.3% — the highest level since 2021.
In the run-up to the data, figures showed US jobless claims rose to the highest since June. Private-sector payrolls increased by 54,000, according to ADP Research data, missing estimates. Hiring plans fell to the weakest level for any August on record, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
“The Federal Reserve’s free pass on the labor market has ended,” said Jamie Cox at Harris Financial Group. “You can expect the Fed to tilt its balance of risks to cut rates in September.”