Investing.com – U.S. stock index futures were little changed in after-hours trading on Thursday, following a subdued session on Wall Street as investors hunkered down ahead of key payroll data that is likely to weigh on interest rates.
Meme Foundation GameStop Corp. (NYSE:) was an exception, posting significant gains in the secondary market after influencer Keith Gill said he would host a livestream on Friday.
Still, Wall Street indexes remained near record highs this week as weak economic data heading into Friday raised bets that the Federal Reserve will have more confidence to cut interest rates soon.
stabilized at 5,364.0 points, and by 19:06 ET (2306 GMT) rose 0.1% to 19,076.25 points. remained unchanged at 38,970.0 points.
Nonfarm payrolls to end week of weak data
Data for May will be released on Friday and is expected to show jobs increased slightly for the month, reflecting sustained strength in the labor market.
However, a number of other data this week showed that the labor market is cooling. fell, but was lower than expected.
Besides inflation, the labor market is also a key factor for the Fed to cut interest rates.
Investors were seen quickly increasing their bets on the Fed’s action following the weak data.
The Fed intends to keep interest rates unchanged. However, the anticipation of the meeting is also expected to influence market caution.
Wall Street Near Record Highs and Set for Weekly Advance
Wall Street indices closed at average levels on Thursday as market favorite NVIDIA (NASDAQ:) took some profit and investors waited for more accurate interest rate signals.
The index stabilized at 5,352.96 points and fell 0.1% to 17,170.64 points. Both indexes rose 1.4% and 2.6% respectively for the week after hitting record highs on Wednesday.
The index rose 0.2% on Friday to finish at 38,886.17 points, but has lagged its peers this week with a 0.5% gain. It also remained well below record highs reached earlier in May.
Aftermarket Drivers: Gamestop Increases Profits, Docusign Falls
Among the main secondary market movers, Gamestop meme shares rose about 26% after rising more than 47% during the session. Influencer Keith Gill, aka “RoaringKitty”, who helped spark the memestock mania of 2021, said he will be hosting a Youtube livestream this Friday – his first in nearly four years.
Last Sunday, Gill said he owns about 5 million shares and 120,000 call options in the video game retailer, a position now valued at at least $200 million.
Software development company DokuSign Inc. (NASDAQ:) fell 6% after its second-quarter guidance disappointed, although first-quarter earnings beat expectations.