Dow Jones futures fall below 40k as US jobs report looms

The downside in the US equity futures has extended further this morning, as early US players return to their desks. The latest big US company earnings reports released today have come from Exon and Chevron and one has beaten the street and the other has not, but in any case that has not had any material outlook for the US opening ahead of the monthly jobs report. That opening outlook has now seen the S+P 500 futures fall further and so have the Dow Jones futures. Obviously this is a highly fluid and volatile market and subject to rapid changes again today. So, as noted here earlier, the Dow Jones could do with a decent jobs number today and here is what is expected. July non-farm payrolls are forecast to rise by around 175k, compared to a rise of 206k in June. The underlying rate of unemployment is forecast to remain unchanged at 4.1%. Average annualised wages are forecast to rise by 3.7%, down from the 3.9% increase last month. The Dow Jones futures just now fell to indicate a reopening at below 39,950. They are currently indicating that opening at around 39,980