09:23 AM EDT, 07/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US stocks look set to open higher in Thursday's trading session as investors parse key employment data released earlier in the morning.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.3%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures rose 0.1%.

Oil prices were heading sharply lower, with front-month global benchmarks Brent crude dropping 1.2% to $70.71 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude was tumbling 1.4% to $67.60 a barrel.

Investors are mulling over nonfarm payrolls, initial jobless claims, unemployment data, and average hourly earnings figures released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

US nonfarm payrolls rose only 57,000 in June, well below the 113,000 increase expected by analysts polled by Bloomberg and following a revised 129,000 gain in May. The unemployment rate for June declined to 4.2% from 4.3% in May, while Bloomberg expected the rate to remain unchanged.

Initial jobless claims decreased to 215,000 in the week ended June 27 from a revised 216,000 the previous week, falling short of the 218,000 expected by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Average hourly earnings for June rose to 0.4% from 0.3%, compared with forecasts of 0.3%.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 2.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.8%, and China's Shanghai Composite dropped 2%. Meanwhile in Europe's early afternoon session, the UK's FTSE 100 was up 0.8%, Germany's DAX was rising 1.5%, and France's CAC was tracking 1.2% higher.

In equities, shares of StablecoinX ( USDE ) soared 75% in Thursday's premarket session after the company said Thursday that it has launched its flagship infrastructure software platform StablecoinX Harness.

SurgePays ( SURG ) shares were up 36% after the company said it amended an agreement with one of its tier 1 wholesale wireless network providers.

Tenax Therapeutics ( TENX ) shares were rising almost 12% after the company said Thursday that results from a phase 3 clinical trial will be presented in a late-breaking clinical science session at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2026.

On the losing side, Linkhome ( LHAI ) shares were down 38% in Thursday premarket activity, following the previous session's 315% gain after the company announced the acquisition of Mortgage One Group.

Elicio Therapeutics ( ELTX ) stock was down 32% after pricing a registered direct offering of about 4.4 million shares.

INLIF ( INLF ) shares were down 26% after its board approved a 1-for-200 share combination.