Wall Street stocks struggle for traction ahead of US jobs report

Wall Street stocks struggle for traction ahead of US jobs report

Wall Street stocks wavered between modest gains and losses on Thursday as investors struggled to predict the US Federal Reserve's next moves ahead of crucial jobs data on Friday.

The S&P 500 share index edged up 0.3 per cent in early dealings to a new all-time high, adding to recent records as traders weigh strong corporate earnings forecasts with fears of the Fed reducing its monthly bond purchases that have underpinned asset prices throughout the pandemic. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite index traded flat.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a range of global currencies, hit its highest level since late March in early US dealings before shifting 0.1 per cent lower.

The moves came ahead of the monthly non-farm payrolls report on Friday, in which economists polled by Bloomberg expect to see employers added close to 700,00 new jobs in June, up from 559,000 a month earlier.

Fed chair Jay Powell has pledged to keep monetary policy supportive until the labour market is healed from the shocks of the pandemic. At their last meeting, however, the central bank's policymakers lifted their growth and inflation forecasts for the US and brought forward projections for the first post-pandemic rate rise by a year to