Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Thursday as investors braced for employment reports later in the day, while Salesforce shares dropped after a downbeat revenue forecast.
Investors face a pivotal week of labor market insights, with August's ADP private payrolls report scheduled for 8:15 a.m. ET, followed by weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET, preluding Friday's highly anticipated nonfarm payrolls data.
Salesforce (CRM.N), fell 6.9% in premarket trading after the cloud company forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, signaling lagging monetization for its AI agent platform.
While AI-linked companies have driven U.S. stock indexes to record highs this year, their momentum has recently waned following quarterly updates from some firms including Nvidia (NVDA.O), that failed to impress investors.
Markets had earlier adopted a dovish tone after July's payrolls figures painted a bleak picture of the labor market and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged rising risks to employment late in August.
Traders were already pricing in a more than 90% chance of a September cut when a weak July job openings report on Wednesday pushed it to over 97%, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.
"We believe downside risks to employment are likely to outweigh lingering inflation concerns in the Fed's decision-making at the 16–17 September FOMC meeting," said analysts at UBS Global Wealth Management.
"We expect the Fed to cut rates by 100 basis points, starting in September, as policymakers prioritize stabilizing the labor market."
Investors will also watch U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee, economic adviser Stephen Miran, testify in a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday to fill Fed Governor Adriana Kugler's seat, which she resigned last month.
At 7:18 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 32 points, or 0.07%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 62.5 points, or 0.27%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 13 points, or 0.2%.
American Eagle Outfitters (AEO.N), soared over 27.6% after the apparel company forecast third-quarter comparable sales above estimates on Wednesday, as its celebrity partnerships boosted demand.
All three indexes started September on the back foot as rising yields on longer-dated Treasuries pressured equities. September has been historically bad, with the benchmark S&P 500 losing 1.5% on average in the month since 2000, according to LSEG data.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed higher on Wednesday on a boost from Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O), hitting an intraday record high after a Washington judge ruled the company would not have to sell its Chrome browser. The stock fell 0.6% on Thursday.
Market participants will also parse speeches from Fed officials John Williams and Austan Goolsbee later in the day. Central bank officials had said on Wednesday that labor market worries continued to animate their belief that rate cuts still lay ahead.
In other stocks, Figma (FIG.N), fell 14.9% after the design software firm's first quarterly results as a public company failed to impress investors, who had rallied behind its blowout July debut.
Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Maju Samuel
