US Stock Market News: Dow Jones futures down 80 points, suggest a mildly negative opening today; check out key triggers here

US Stock Market News Today: All three of the main US equity benchmarks—the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite—are set for a tepid start to the day on Thursday, a day after the 30-scrip Dow Jones closed higher for the sixth session in a row and above the 39,000 mark for the first time in five weeks. The Dow Jones—whose 30 constituents include Amazon, Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Nike, Boeing and Visa—has already risen 380.7 points, or one per cent, for the week, as investors remain cautiously optimistic about the prospect of reductions in benchmark interest rates in 2024 itself amid a weaker-than-expected jobs market in the world's largest economy.

All eyes are on incoming US employment data due this week for more clarity on the course of interest rates in the world's largest economy as well as around the globe. 

Meanwhile, the Bank of England's rate-deciding committee voted 7:2 to keep key interest rates at a 16-year high of 5.25 per cent on Thursday, with Governor Andrew Bailey stating that he is "optimistic that things are moving in the right direction". Read more on BoE's decision to hold key rate

The May 9 session follows a day full of seesaw moves on Wall Street, despite the Dow's best run since December, as buying interest in financials, utilities and tech shareswas countered by selling pressure in realty, material and consumer discretionary stocks.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 closed flat at 5,187.7 while the US tech stocks-heavy Nasdaq Composite—which includes the likes of Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Tesla and Nvidia—settled 29.8 points, or 0.2 per cent, weaker for the day at 16,302.8. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 9.5 points, or 0.5 per cent, to settle at 2,055.1. Read more on how the US share market fared on May 8

Analysts say the Wall Street bulls are leaning towards taking a breather following comments by a few Fed officials that the US central bank is more likely to keep rates steady this year.

Key triggers for May 9 session

• Worse-than-expected US jobs report
• Fed official Mary C Daly scheduled to speak 
• A natural gas update from US Energy Information Administration (EIA), which serves as the primary source of energy information for the US government
• US-based chip designer Arm posted better-than-expected quarterly numbers but worse-than-expected annual revenue guidance

Global markets

European markets began the day on a lacklustre note, with the benchmark index retreating from a record high clinched the previous day. The pan-European STOXX 600 index declined as much as 0.9 point, or 0.2 per cent, to 514.9 in the early hours, mirroring the trend across Asia.

Earlier on Thursday, MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan declined 0.2 per cent while Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.3 per cent. 

In Mumbai, equity benchmarks Nifty50 and Sensex slumped about 1.5 per cent each amid a sell-off across sectors barring auto stocks. Read more on how Sensex and Nifty50 fared on May 9

Before May 9 session begins, take a look at how Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq, Russell 2000 have fared so far this week

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