US Stock Futures Down As Investors Await Nonfarm Payrolls Data

US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting nonfarm payrolls data and figures on the June unemployment rate. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 16 points to 12,665.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index fell 2.90 points to 1,348.80. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 2.25 points to 2,413.25. US stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average gaining 0.74% to 12,719.49, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rising 1.05% to 1,353.22 and the NASDAQ composite index surging 1.36% to 2,872.66. Data on monthly nonfarm payrolls will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The unemployment rate for June will also be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on May wholesale inventories will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Ixia XXIA lowered its second-quarter projections. SemiLEDs Corp LEDS swung to a FQ3 loss of $5.1 million, or $0.19 per share. Its sales declined to $5.6 million from $9.9 million. On an adjusted basis, SemiLEDs' loss came in at $0.16 per share. Analysts were expecting a loss of $0.06 per share on sales of $6.3 million. WD-40 Company WDFC reported its FQ3 earnings at $8.1 million, or $0.47 per share, down from $9.2 million, or $0.54 per share, in the year-ago period. Its net sales increased 3.6% to $85.5 million from $82.5 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.52 per share on revenue of $88.2 million. Most Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 0.7187%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 1.07% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.13%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.8711% and India's Sensex dipped 1.30%. European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.03%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.10%, German DAX 30 index rose 0.22% and France CAC 40 index fell 0.05%. The dollar index (DXY) surged 0.3% to 75.11. Light crude for August delivery declined $0.70 to $97.97 a barrel in electronic trading on the Globex market.