Dow Jones futures point to a neutral opening with US Payrolls on focus

• The Dow Jones Index remains steady near recent highs, as investors await a key US Nonfarm Payrolls report.
• US economy is expected to have created 75,000 new jobs in August.
• Weak employment data and dovish Fed speak increased hopes of Fed cuts and underpinned demand for equities.

Dow Jones futures are trading practically flat a few hours ahead of the US market opening on Friday. Wall Street indices are mixed with investors yearning for a  Goldilocks paNonfarm Payrolls figure that confirms a Fed rate cut in September.

The Dow index is trading less than 0.1% below Thursday's close, at 45,670 at the time of writing. The S&P 500 Index moves 0.2% up, and Nasdaq Futures advance 0.5% ahead of the opening bell.

The major US equity indexes rallied on Wednesday, following a mix of soft US unemployment levels and strong services sector data, which strengthened the case for Fed easing in September, but without serious concerns about a significant economic slowdown.

Investors expect NFP numbers to cement Fed easing hopes

August ADP employment reading disappointed with a mere 54,000 increment in private payrolls. These numbers are well below the 65,0000 increase anticipated by the market consensus and about half of the 106,000 new jobs registered in July.

Later on, US weekly Jobless Claims showed an increase of 237,000 in the last week of August, which is the largest increment in requests for unemployment benefits since June. The Final reading beat expectations of a 230,000 increase after the previous week's 229,00 reading.

These figures, coupled with more dovish comments from Fed officials, who warned about downside risks for the labour market and hinted at the possibility of a monetary easing move in September, underpinned demand for equities and triggered a moderate pullback on the US Dollar.

Later today, August's Payrolls report is expected to show a 75,000 increase in private employment, a similar figure to last months 73,000 increase that prompted investors to ramp up monetary easing bets and sent the USW Dollar on a tailspin.