US pre-open: Stocks to rise ahead of non-farm payrolls

7th Aug 2026 09:41

(Sharecast News) - US futures pointed to a mostly higher open on Wall Street on Friday as investors eyed the release of the latest non-farm payrolls report.

At 1040 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were up 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

The non-farm payrolls report for July will be released at 1330 BST, along with average earnings and the unemployment rate. Market expectations are for payrolls to have increased by 80,000 in July following a 57,000 jump in June, and for the unemployment rate to remain steady at 4.2%.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "Although US stocks experienced mild losses on Thursday, markets have rallied hard into this payrolls meeting. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones have both posted record highs, while the Nasdaq experienced 1% gains on 4 straight days, only the 17th time it has done this.

"However, this report could expose a fault line. US Treasury yields are elevated. Although 10-year yields have fallen moderately in the past month, the 10-year yield is trading above 4.6%, and the 30-year yield is trading just below 5.2%."

Brooks noted that the Fed meeting at the end of July saw three FOMC members vote for a rate hike.

"If we get a stronger than expected payrolls reading and elevated wage pressure, then this could push up expectations for a September rate hike, reinforce the 'higher for longer' narrative on interest rates, and break the recent rally in US stocks," she said. "The reverse is also true, a weaker than expected reading could give traders a green light to carry on with the recent rally."

Brooks pointed out that lead indicators for the payrolls report have been generally weak. Although the ISM manufacturing report for July showed an increase in the employment component of the report, the ISM services sector saw the employment component slump to 47.4 from 51.2, which is deep in contraction territory. In addition, the ADP private sector payrolls report was also weaker than expected at 44k, she said.

Investors were also keeping an eye on developments in the Middle East following reports that draft terms in an agreement between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz include Tehran banning US and Israeli ships and requiring compensation from hostile countries before they're allowed to use it.

On the corporate front, Airbnb looked set to surge at the open after it posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and lifted its outlook for 2026.

Cybersecurity firm Cloudflare was also sharply higher in pre-market trade as it bumped up its annual profit guidance and posted solid second-quarter results.