Futures inch higher as debt ceiling bill passes House

By Shreyashi Sanyal and Shristi Achar A

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Thursday after the House of Representatives passed a bill to suspend the nation’s debt ceiling, while investors awaited more data to determine the strength of the labor market.

The bill to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling on Wednesday passed with majority support from both Democrats and Republicans and will now head to the Senate, which must enact the measure before a Monday deadline, when the government is expected to run out of money to pay its bills.

“The bill now moves to the Senate, where we believe it will clear the 60-vote hurdle after some political and procedural posturing,” analysts at BTIG said.

At 7:05 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 13 points, or 0.04%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 10 points, or 0.24%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 22.5 points, or 0.16%.

Even after the passage of the bill, trading remained in a narrow range as investors focused on economic indicators, which will set the tone for the U.S. Federal Reserve and provide more details on the impact of its aggressive interest rate-hiking cycle on the economy.

The ADP National Employment Report at 0815 ET is expected to show private payrolls likely increased by 170,000 jobs in May, after 296,000 additions in April.

This will arrive before the Labor Department’s closely watched May jobs report, due on Friday, which could decide whether a rate hike occurs.

The S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) manufacturing PMI and the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing PMI for May will also be on the watch list.

The likelihood of a 25-basis point increase at the Fed’s June 13-14 policy meeting fell to about 37% after comments by the central bank officials, who were leaning toward a momentary pause in hikes. [FEDWATCH]

Comments from Fed Governor and vice chair nominee Philip Jefferson and Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker on Wednesday pointed to their inclination toward a rate hike “skip”.

Shares of Dow Jones Industrial Average component Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Inc fell 6.2% in premarket trading after posting its slowest pace of revenue growth in 13 years.

Nordstrom Inc (N:JWN) gained 3.1% after the upmarket department store chain posted a surprise first-quarter profit, helped by better inventory control and demand from wealthy shoppers.

However, Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) tumbled 10.2% and Dollar General Corp (NYSE:DG) slid 6.1% as both retail companies cut their full-year sales forecasts amid high inflation.

C3.ai Inc slumped 22.8% after the artificial intelligence company forecast annual revenue outlook below street estimates.