Stock Futures Waver After Mixed Jobs Data

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stock futures were wavering Thursday as investors digested a mixed labor market report.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 7 points, or 1.64 points below fair value, at 13,127. Futures for the S&P 500 were down 1.2 points, or 1.32 points below fair value, at 1397. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 were up 5.25 points, or 2.88 points above fair value, at 2712.

U.S. stocks traded sideways Wednesday, pausing after a three-day rally as investors braced for economic reports from China and digested divergent views within the Federal Reserve on monetary stimulus.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial jobless claims during the week ended Aug. 4, fell 6,000 to 361,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised figure of 367,000. However, the four-week moving average was 368,250, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week's average of 366,000. Economists surveyed by Reuters expected claims of 370,000.

Also, continuing claims for the week ended July 28, were 3.332 million, an increase of 53,000 from the preceding week's level of 3.279 million.

At the same time, the Commerce Department reported that the June trade deficit narrowed to $42.9 billion from a downwardly revised $48 billion in May. Economists, on average, predicted the deficit shrank to $47.5 billion from $48.7 billion.

At 10 a.m., the Commerce Department is expected to say that wholesale inventories rose 0.3% in June, similar to the previous month.

September crude oil futures were up 18 cents at $93.53 a barrel and December gold futures were down 80 cents at $1,615.20 an ounce.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury was falling 1 14/32, raising the yield to 1.685%. The greenback was up 0.24%, according to the dollar index.

The FTSE in London was flat and the DAX in Germany was down 0.55%.