Early gains were slipping away on Wall Street today, less than 24 hours after markets closed their best day in two years, driven by a reassuring labor market report, according to the Associated Press. Futures for the S&P 500 were down about 0.2% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched back 0.1%.
Broadly strong earnings reports have helped buoy the market in a week that began with an anxious sell-off on concerns about the labor market and broader economy.
Online travel booker Expedia jumped 8.3% in the premarket after it reported second-quarter sales and profit that beat Wall Street’s targets, despite warning of softening travel demand.
Shares in Hollywood entertainment giant Paramount jumped 5% after reporting that its streaming service turned its first profit and that the company was cutting 15% of its workforce ahead of its merger with content producer Skydance. That would amount to more than 3,000 layoffs, which Paramount said would come within its marketing and communications departments as well as legal, finance, and other parts of the company. Paramount also reported per-share second-quarter profit that quadrupled analyst targets.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 38 cents to $76.57 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 32 cents to $79.48 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar fell to 146.70 Japanese yen from 147.28 yen.
