* June payrolls data on tap
* Commodities ease as U.S. dollar rises
* Light volumes expected ahead of three-day weekend
* Futures off: S&P 5.0 pts, Dow 56 pts, Nasdaq 7.75 pts
* For up-to-the-minute market news click []
(Updates to early morning)
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, July 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell
on Thursday as investors readied for data expected to show more
Americans lost their jobs in June than in the previous month,
in another sign the economic recovery may be slower than
hoped.
U.S. non-farm payrolls data, the most closely watched U.S.
economic indicator, is expected to show a loss of 363,000 jobs
in June, according to a Reuters poll of economists, compared
with 345,000 job losses in May. The unemployment rate is
forecast to edge up to 9.6 percent from 9.4 percent in May.
Both numbers are due at 8:30 a.m. []
Thursday is the last trading day of the week as U.S.
markets shut down for the Independence Day holiday. Analysts
say lower holiday volumes could lead to increased volatility.
Commodity prices eased, with crude oil falling almost 2
percent to just over $68 a barrel, threatening to dent shares
in energy companies. Crude prices fell in the previous session
when data showed a bigger-than-expected rise in U.S. gasoline
stocks, which dampened hopes of demand-led recovery.
[]
Crude prices were helped lower by a stronger U.S. dollar,
which moved 0.5 percent higher against a basket of currencies
<.DXY> after hitting a three-week low on Wednesday. The dollar
has been volatile in recent weeks, in part because of a
continued debate over its position as a global reserve
currency.
"What you have seen a little bit in the markets is a lot of
inconsistencies between reaction to jobs and what appears to be
a stalled economy, and reaction to commodities, which has
jumped ahead as if the economy's in a recovery mode," said Rick
Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey
City, New Jersey
Meckler said investors would be squaring positions ahead of
the long weekend and would be "very influenced by any outlier
in that (jobs) number."
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> fell 5.0 points and were below fair
value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures <DJc1> fell 56
points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures lost 7.75 points.
Exelon Corp <EXC.N> raised its hostile takeover bid for
independent power producer NRG Energy Inc <NRG.N> to $7.45
billion, citing newly identified cost savings and NRG's recent
acquisition of Reliant Energy's retail business. NRG's shares
rose 2.1 percent to $26.61 before the bell. []
On the corporate earnings front, Illumina Inc <ILMN.O>
reported lower-than-expected second-quarter revenue as
customers delayed purchase of its arrays, and cut its 2009
revenue outlook, sending its shares tumbling 21 percent after
the bell on Wednesday.
U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as reassuring manufacturing
data from China, Europe and the United States fueled hopes that
the world's economy is on the road to recovery, but with the
release of the payrolls data looming some caution prevailed,
causing indexes to finish sharply off their highs.
The S&P 500 rose 15.2 percent in the second quarter, its
best quarterly performance in a decade, after rallying as much
as 40 percent since a 12-year closing low on March 9.
(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
