Wall Street is set to open slightly lower on Friday morning, as investors judge that the positive aspects of the latest employment report do not validate the scenario of a forthcoming rate cut.

Half an hour before the opening, futures contracts on the main New York indices are down by 0.3% to 0.5%, heralding a session start in the red.

Market participants, however, seem to be struggling to interpret the mixed employment figures released early this morning.

While the US economy created a much higher-than-expected number of jobs in May (272,000 vs. 180,000 expected), the unemployment rate rose against all expectations to 4%, according to data from the Labor Department.

These contrasting figures alone, however, do not seem sufficient to prompt the Federal Reserve to accelerate its timetable for the first rate cut since 2020.

Over the past few weeks, US equity markets have suffered from growing concerns about a possible reawakening of inflation in the country.

Against this backdrop, investors are increasingly questioning the Fed's ability to cut rates this year.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch barometer, the estimated probability of a 25 basis point easing in September is now down to 51.6%, compared with 58% yesterday.

On the bond market, the yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed back to over 4.41% after the employment figures, having fallen yesterday to its lowest level since March.

The dollar strengthened its gains against the euro, while crude oil prices remained on an upward trend following the employment report, which confirmed the good health of the US economy and the strength of demand.

On the NYMEX, US light crude (WTI) advanced by 0.1% to $75.6. Over the week, however, it lost almost 2%.

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