EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: FUTURES WOBBLE BEFORE PAYROLLS
European equity futures are soft on Thursday as weakness in the global technology hardware space saps global sentiment.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq NASDAQ:NDX shed 1.5% on Wednesday, led lower by a sharp 6.3% decline in an index of semiconductor stocks NASDAQ:SOX. Overnight South Korea's Kospi KRX:KOSPI dropped as much as 8% and Japan's Nikkei 225 TVC:NI225 faced a 2.4% fall.
Beyond tech, performance has held up ok - perhaps why European futures are only a touch softer.
Euro STOXX 50 futures EUREX:FESX1! are down about 0.2%. Futures on the DAX BMFBOVESPA:DAX1!, CAC (FCEc1) and FTSE ICEEUR:Z1! are flat to down 0.2%.
Attention on Thursday is on U.S. jobs figures, released a day earlier than usual due to the Independence Day holiday on Friday.
Job growth is seen cooling slightly after three consecutive months of above-expectations job creation.