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Futures: Dow up 0.02%, S&P 500 down 0.02%, Nasdaq down

0.1%

Dec 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were muted on

Thursday, pulling back after all three major indexes posted

all-time closing highs in the last session, with focus on more

employment-related data this week.

The S&P 500, the Nasdaq and the blue-chip Dow

clocked record closing highs on Wednesday as technology

shares rallied after upbeat results from the likes of Salesforce ( CRM )

and Marvell Technology ( MRVL ).

Speaking on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell

said the economy is stronger now than the central bank had

expected in September, and appeared to signal his support for a

slower pace of interest-rate cuts ahead.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly, in

the meantime, said that "there's no sense of urgency" on cutting

rates. Comments from Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin would

be on the radar later in the day.

Still, traders currently see a 74% chance of the Fed easing

its monetary policy by 25-basis-points later this month, as per

CME's FedWatch Tool.

On the day, a reading of weekly jobless claims due before

markets open would be awaited, in lead-up to this week's

centerpiece, the monthly jobs data on Friday.

"Ahead of a 'live' Fed policy meeting in December, we expect

special factors including weather, the resolved Boeing strike

and election effects to cloud the read on the job market," BNP

Paribas economists wrote in a note.

"Our forecasts imply a November jobs report that is just

ambiguous enough - strong job growth but a slight rise in

unemployment, alongside moderate gains in pay - to keep a

December rate cut as our base case."

Although markets have reached the eclipse of the earnings

seasons, quarterly results from Dollar General ( DG ) and Kroger ( KR )

would be on the watchlist before markets open.

At 5:08 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 9 points, or

0.02%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 1.25 points, or 0.02%

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 22 points, or 0.1%.

Cryptocurrency- and blockchain-related stocks jumped in

premarket trading after bitcoin, the world's largest

cryptocurrency, stormed above the $100,000 mark for the first

time.

Exchange operator Coinbase Global ( COIN ) rose 3.4%, miner

MARA Holdings ( MARA ) added 6.3% and the largest corporate

holder of bitcoin MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) advanced 6.1%.

SentinelOne ( S ) dropped 14.7% after the cybersecurity firm

missed Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit.

Synopsys ( SNPS ) fell 7.4% after the chip design software

firm forecast fiscal 2025 revenue below Wall Street expectations

thanks in part to a slump in China sales.