US STOCKS-Futures slightly lower before jobs data

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* Futures down: Dow 0.13%, S&P 0.16%, Nasdaq 0.19%

By Medha Singh
July 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures edged lower, on
Friday, as investors awaited the monthly jobs data, which could
offer clues on the Federal Reserve's move on interest rates.
Nonfarm payrolls data from the Labor Department is likely to
show an increase by 160,000 jobs last month after rising by only
75,000 in May, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The
data is due at 8:30 a.m ET (1230 GMT).
The likely rebound in U.S. job growth and expectations of a
pick up in wage gains would probably not be enough to discourage
the Fed from cutting interest rates this month amid growing
evidence the economy is slowing. A spate of weak economic data on Wednesday raised hopes of
an interest rate cut and helped the Wall Street's main indexes
clinch record closing highs.
"It appears that, unless the report shows a radically lower
figure – as happened in May – markets could accept a broadly
solid jobs report as confirmation that the July FOMC meeting
will result in only 25 basis point of easing," Chris Turner,
global head of strategy at ING, said.
Traders fully expect the U.S. central bank to lower
borrowing costs by at least a quarter point at its policy
meeting on July 30-31 and also see a 23% chance of a
50-basis-point reduction.
A protracted U.S.-China trade war is also seen as a reason
behind the Fed's dovish stance, although a trade truce reached
between the United States and China and their return to talks
last week have tempered bets of a half-point cut.
At 6:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were down 35 points, or
0.13%. S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 4.75 points, or 0.16%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 15 points, or 0.19%.
Trading volumes could be thin at the end of
holiday-shortened week as markets were shut on Thursday for
Independence Day holiday.
Among stocks, Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O fell 2.9% in premarket
trade, with Intel Corp INTC.O and Advanced Micro Devices Inc
AMD.O also trading lower, after Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
005930.KS forecast a steep plunge in its second-quarter
operating profit due to a supply glut and rising tariffs hitting
global demand for electronics.