Stock market today: Wall Street follows global markets lower ahead of a key US employment report

Wall Street followed global markets lower Friday ahead of a highly anticipated U.S. jobs report that’s expected to influence the Federal Reserve's next move on interest rates.

Dow futures slipped 0.3% before the opening bell and S&P 500 futures are off 0.5%.

Broadcom tumbled 7.2% in premarket trading after the chipmaker gave a lukewarm forecast, even though it nudged past third-quarter profit targets on booming revenue related to artificial intelligence. Broadcom, whose shares are still up more than 25% this year, said it expects fourth-quarter sales of $14 billion, which is short of Wall Street expectations.

U.S. Steel jumped 2.6% in premarket after the CEO of rival Cleveland Cliffs told MSNBC that his company would still be interested in acquiring U.S. Steel if the Biden Administration were to block its proposed sale to Japan's Nippon Steel. Lourenco Goncalves also accused Nippon of frequent breaches of trade policies and cited national security issues if the proposed $14 billion Nippon-U.S. Steel were to go through.

The job market report, set for release later in the day, could dictate how big of a cut to interest rates the Federal Reserve will deliver at its next meeting later this month.

After keeping its main interest rate at a two-decade high to stifle inflation, the Fed has hinted it’s about to begin cutting rates to keep the economy from sliding into a recession. Most analysts are forecasting somewhat of a rebound in August job gains after July's disappointing numbers sent markets into a tailspin.

Elsewhere, in Europe at midday, France's CAC 40 and Britain's FTSE 100 each slipped 0.2%, while Germany's DAX shed 0.5%.

Trading was cautious in Asia amid lingering worries about a possible recession in the U.S.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% to finish at 36,391.47. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 8,013.40, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 1.2% to 2,544.28. The Shanghai Composite shed 0.8% to 2,765.81. Trading was halted in Hong Kong because of a typhoon.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 39 cents to $69.54 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 36 cents to $73.05 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged down to 143.13 Japanese yen from 143.40 yen, The euro cost $1.1110, down slightly from $1.1112.

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