Stocks are likely to look beyond Friday's surprisingly soft August jobs report and latch onto the latest data on labor and inflation in the coming week's jobless claims and producer price index.
Stocks were mixed in the past week ahead of the long Labor Day weekend, with the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ outperforming, the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ rising slightly and the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ flat. The best-performing sectors were on the defensive side, led by real estate investment trusts, utilities, consumer staples and health care.
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U.S. stock futures were little changed on Wednesday night after the S&P 500 finished the first trading session of the month near the flatline.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 5 points, or 0.01%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures edged 0.03% and 0.04% higher, respectively.
$S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ $PVH Corp (PVH.US)$ $Kansas City Southern (KSU.US)$ $Moderna (MRNA.US)$ $AbbVie (ABBV.US)$ $DXC Technology (DXC.US)$ $Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.US)$

Weekly market recap
All three major stock indexes finished the week lower. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ dipped 1.1% this week, while the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ shed nearly 0.6% and the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ moved 0.7% lower.
“With Fed tapering coming while delta variant keeps spreading, the transition away from liquidity/policy regime to more mid-cycle markets means we may experience a bumpier ride ahead,” Barclays equity strategists said in a note. “Market narrative may thus turn more cautious, as concerns about peaking growth rates, delta variant and policy mistake may prove headwinds, at a time when seasonality and technicals are unfavorable.”
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