Wall Street took some profits Wednesday, locking in gains ahead of Friday’s premarket July employment situation from the Labor Department. Traders continued Europe’s selloff across the pond as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 39.22, or 0.4 %, to 9,280.97, its biggest % decline since July 7. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 2.93, or 0.3 %, to 1,002.72, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 18.26, or 0.9 %, to 1,993.05. The blue chips are still up 13.9% over the past 28 days however, despite the pullback. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 4.75, or 0.8 %, to 565.99

Morning Outlook

Markets in Asia were mostly higher Thursday. Automakers led Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average to close 135.56 points, or 1.3 %, higher at 10,388.09 overnight. Despite early losses, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 404.47, or 2 %, to 20,899.24. China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was the laggard, dropping 72.17 points, or 2.1 %, to 3,356.33.

In Europe, stocks saw their first gains in 3 days as the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares up 50.11 points, or 1.1 %, at 4,697.24 and Germany’s DAX 34.77 points, or 0.7 %, higher at 5,387.78. The CAC-40 in France rose 31.72 points, or 0.9 %, to 3,490.25.

Futures on Wall Street point to a lackluster start ahead of today’s economic data; it is also the last trading day before tomorrow’s uber important employment situation. Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 7, or 0.1 %, at 9,252. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures were nearly flat at 1,000.10, while Nasdaq 100 index futures were down 5, or 0.3 %, at 1,609.50.

On the Corporate Front

Cisco (CSCO) beat expectations with the release of their fiscal 4th quarter numbers. The company reported a profit of $1.1 billion, or 19 cents per share, down from $2 billion, or 33 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. CSCO saw sales fall 18 % to $8.5 billion. The stock is down nearly 3% in premarket trading following uninspiring comments from the CEO as CSCO heads into their fiscal Q1.

Currencies and Commodities

The dollar rose 0.5194% at 95.46 yen in the currency market. The euro depreciated 0.1744% to $1.4379 while the pound lost 0.8491% to $1.6844. Gold fell $3.30 to $963 an ounce, while silver lost 0.71% at $14.650. Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell 32 cents to $71.65 per barrel on the NYMEX; a 0.44% decline following growth in U.S. inventory stockpiles.

Economic Calendar

8:30 AM
Jobless Claims: New unemployment claims for the week of August 1st , to show the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. The fewer people filing for unemployment benefits, the more have jobs, the more income in the consumer’s pocket, as well as a forecast on the strength of the economy. The consensus is for an increase of 575,000 for first time jobless claims, down from last week’s reading of 584,000; while continuing claims fell by 54,000 to 6.197 million. We are still at an uncomfortably high range, however much better than the 600K+ readings we had been use to.