U.S. stock futures rose after the S&P 500 nears the flatline

U.S. stock futures increased slightly on September 2 after the S&P 500 finished the session near the flatline.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained by 67 points to settle at 35,312.53. S&P 500 futures increased by 0.2% to 4,524.09 and Nasdaq 100 futures boosted by 0.2% to 15,309.38.

The market is now focused on key jobs data, which is likely to dictate trading in the next two days. According to economists polled by Dow Jones, weekly jobless claims are anticipated to decline to 345,000, down from 353,000 in the previous week. 

Moreover, the big August jobs report is due on Friday, and investors are watching closely to see how fast the Federal Reserve will remove the easy monetary policy. Notably, economists predict 720,000 jobs were added in the month, down from 943,000 jobs added in July. In the previous session, ADP data showed U.S. firms created fewer jobs in the previous month than anticipated.

On Thursday, shares of Moderna gained 1%. Shares of ChargePoint, the maker of charge systems for electric vehicles, surged 12% after reporting stellar quarterly earnings. Meanwhile, shares of Pet retailer Chewy and retailer Five Below witnessed declines after reporting quarterly results. Chewy dipped 9%, while Five Below fell 8%. 

Chipmaker Broadcom will publish quarterly results after the bell Thursday.

The market was mostly lower on Wednesday, the first trading day of September. Remarkably, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 48.20 points, or 0.1%, to settle at 35,312.53. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 finished the day at 4,524.09.

However, the Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.3% to settle at 15,309.38, hitting a record.

Energy stocks fell as oil and gas prices continue to increase after Hurricane Ida

Energy stocks slipped on Wednesday as oil and gas prices continue to increase. As we know, Hurricane Ida shut down oil production and refining operations. Significantly, those losses were offset by increases in utility and real estate stocks.

Furthermore, small-cap stocks made bigger moves. The Russell 2000 index gained 0.6% on Wednesday, following a 2.1% rise in August. According to analysts and investors, movement in small-cap stocks is tied to a move higher in value stocks.

Shares of Apple increased before pulling back to less than 1% after the company announced the rollout of a feature that will let users add driver’s licenses and state IDs to their Apple Wallet. 

Uber witnessed its stock rise 3.7% after KeyBanc reiterated it as overweight. KeyBanc announced the company has a big opportunity to increase market share in the grocery delivery space. Uber also announced Tuesday that it’s selling stakes in several Russian businesses for $1 billion.

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