(Reuters) -Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes rose early on Thursday, a day after weaker-than-expected private payrolls data bolstered hopes for interest rate cuts, while traders braced for a data-light session due to the U.S. government shutdown.
Investors remain sensitive to any signal of policy easing, with rate-cut optimism underpinning much of the recent rally that has taken equities to high valuations.
The data vacuum created by the shutdown has left investors leaning more heavily
on alternative sources, such as Wednesday's ADP National Employment Report, which was much weaker than expected.
"It's likely to fortify those on the Fed policymaking committee who believe that the labor situation merits at least one more cut," said Arnim Holzer, global macro strategist at Easterly EAB.
With the ADP print potentially the only labor market data available for some time, traders were quick to interpret the weaker reading as enough to tilt the Fed toward a rate cut of 25 basis points at its next meeting.
"It suggests the U.S. economy is in almost dire need for further policy support," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
At 05:06 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 16 points, or 0.03%, U.S. S&P 500 E-minis were up 10.75 points, or 0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 88.5 points, or 0.35%
The benchmark S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow indexes ended at record closing highs on Wednesday.
The weekly jobless claims report, a key gauge of labor market health that was due on Thursday, will become the first data casualty of the shutdown that began on Wednesday amid a standoff between Republicans and Democrats.
Historically, government shutdowns have had limited impact on equity markets. But with investors closely watching for signs of monetary easing, the current data vacuum poses a greater risk to the Fed's ability to assess the economy and guide policy.
Later on Thursday, investors will also parse commentary from Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan.
Among individual stocks, Tesla was up 1.5% in premarket trading ahead of its quarterly deliveries report, while NYSE-listed shares of Lithium Americas slid 2.4% after Canaccord Genuity downgraded the stock.
Credit bureaus Equifax and TransUnion fell 11.1% and 7.1%, respectively, after FICO launched a program that could allow mortgage lenders get access to credit scores without relying on the bureaus. FICO was up 1.2%.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
