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US private payrolls growth slows in June

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Paramount jumps on report of Skydance Media deal

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Fed meeting minutes due at 2 p.m. ET

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Futures down: Dow 0.03%, S&P 500 0.11%, Nasdaq 0.19%

(Updated at 8:45 a.m. ET/1245 GMT)

By Ankika Biswas and Lisa Pauline Mattackal

July 3 (Reuters) -

Wall Street was set to open slightly lower on Wednesday

ahead of a holiday-shortened trading session, as investors

assessed jobs data while being on the lookout for more economic

reports and the Federal Reserve's June policy meeting minutes.

The equity market will close early on Wednesday and stay

shut on Thursday on account of U.S. Independence Day, keeping

trading volumes thin throughout the week.

The ADP Employment report showed U.S. private payrolls

increased a bit less than expected in June, consistent with

slowing labor market momentum.

A separate data revealed weekly jobless claims rose to

238,000 in the week ended June 29, versus expectations of

235,000, with continued claims for the week ended June 22 rising

to 1.858 million, stronger than forecasts of 1.84 million.

This comes ahead of Friday's closely watched non-farm

payrolls report, and a day after data signaled higher U.S. job

openings as well as layoffs in May.

"It's quite a strong unemployment claims number, and

it's fitting in with an overall trend that's probably an

indication of loosening up in the jobs market. It must be quite

welcoming for the Fed," said David Morrison, Trade Nation senior

market analyst.

Wednesday's data prompted market participants to hold on

to their bets of the first rate cut arriving in September and

around two cuts by the end of the year, as per LSEG's FedWatch.

The other data points on the watch list include factory

orders and services PMIs after markets open, along with the

Fed's June meeting minutes at 2 p.m. ET.

Gains in Tesla and megacap stocks helped the Nasdaq

and the S&P 500 to close at record highs on Tuesday, a

day that also saw Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledge the

"disinflationary path," while also flagging the need for more

data before cutting interest rates.

Tesla rose nearly 1% premarket after hitting its

highest level since January on Tuesday following a

smaller-than-expected drop in second-quarter vehicle deliveries.

However, Nvidia ( NVDA ) slipped 0.7%, in a recent choppy

run for the AI chip leader after its staggering gains since

2023, with other megacaps including Alphabet,

Microsoft ( MSFT ), and Amazon.com ( AMZN ) also edging lower.

As the S&P 500 has jumped over 15% in the first half of

2024, largely supported by top-tier high momentum

technology-related stocks, the benchmark index's equal-weighted

counterpart only rose 5%, signaling the lack of a

broad-based market strength.

At 8:45 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 10 points,

or 0.03%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 6.25 points, or

0.11%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 38.75 points, or

0.19%.

Among other premarket movers, Paramount Global ( PARAA )

jumped 12.9% after Shari Redstone's National Amusements reached

a preliminary deal to sell its controlling interest in the media

giant to David Ellison's Skydance Media.

Lender First Foundation ( FFWM ) shed 27% after the

company, which holds a huge portfolio of multifamily real estate

loans,

disclosed

a $228 million unexpected capital raise.