Stock futures are flat ahead of jobs data

Stock futures were slightly lower on Thursday as investors wait for new labor-market data to gauge the pace of the economic recovery.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 32 points, while S&P 500 futures lost 0.3%. Nasdaq 100 futures shed 0.5%.

Investors await the latest data on U.S. weekly jobless claims, which comes out Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are expecting a total of 425,000 Americans to have filed unemployment benefits in the week ended May 22. In the week prior, jobless claims reached a fresh pandemic-era low of 444,000.

Snowflake shares tumbled 4% in premarket trading trading after the data-analytics software company reported widening losses. Nvidia‘s stock dipped about 1% in early trading even after the chip giant’s earnings and sales for the first quarter both beat Wall Street expectations. Its revenue grew 88% compared to last year.

Meme stocks, which have jumped this week amid a resurgence in speculative trading, were lower in premarket trading. GameStop was down by about 4%. AMC Entertainment lost 6%.

Ford was higher again, with the stock up 1% following an upgrade by RBC. The stock jumped 8% on Wednesday after unveiling its electric vehicle strategy.

The move in futures followed a relatively quiet session on Wall Street. The S&P 500 eked out a 0.2% gain in light trading, supported by gains in shares tied to the economic reopening including airlines and cruise line operators. The blue-chip Dow finished Wednesday’s session little changed, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6%.

Trading is expected to be muted ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.

“Equity markets are quiet as investors continue to anticipate the Fed’s next move,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. “Low volatility and low trading volume are a frequent occurrence in the week leading into a holiday.”