US STOCKS-Wall St set for subdued open after jobs data; Salesforce weighs

By Purvi Agarwal and Ragini Mathur

Sept 4 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set for a muted open on Thursday after a softer-than-expected private payrolls report, while Salesforce shares dropped as the cloud company gave a downbeat revenue forecast.

U.S. private payrolls increased less than expected in August, while weekly jobless claims came in higher than expected , amid easing labor market conditions.

Trader bets on a September interest rate cut were intact at 97%, according to CME's FedWatch Tool. Markets were already pricing in a more than 90% chance of a September cut when a weak July job openings report on Wednesday amplified it.

Investors had adopted a dovish tone after July's payrolls figures painted a bleak picture of the labor market and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged rising risks to employment late in August.

The focus now shifts to Friday's highly anticipated nonfarm payrolls data.

"We got a softer ADP (reading) but not enough to indicate a material slowdown or any change in the easing bias of the Fed," said Eric Teal, chief investment officer at Comerica Wealth Management.

"The market is expecting to see some cracks in the jobs market ... not a complete erosion, but some weakening that will make a stronger case for monetary easing."

Salesforce CRM.N fell 6% in premarket trading after the company forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, signaling lagging monetization for its AI agent platform.

While AI-linked companies have driven U.S. stock indexes to record highs this year, their momentum has recently waned following quarterly updates from some firms including Nvidia NVDA.O that failed to impress investors.

Investors will also watch U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee, economic adviser Stephen Miran, testify in a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday to fill Fed Governor Adriana Kugler's seat, which she resigned last month.

At 8:45 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were down 13 points, or 0.03%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 5.75 points, or 0.09%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 25.25 points, or 0.11%.

American Eagle Outfitters AEO.N soared over 23% after the apparel company forecast third-quarter comparable sales above estimates on Wednesday, as its celebrity partnerships boosted demand.

All three indexes started September on the back foot as rising yields on longer-dated Treasuries pressured equities. September has been historically bad, with the benchmark S&P 500 losing 1.5% on average in the month since 2000, according to LSEG data.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed higher on Wednesday on a boost from Google-parent Alphabet GOOGL.O hitting an intraday record high after a Washington judge ruled the company would not have to sell its Chrome browser. The stock fell 0.8% on Thursday.

Market participants will also parse speeches from Fed officials John Williams and Austan Goolsbee later in the day. Central bank officials had said on Wednesday that labor market worries continued to animate their belief that rate cuts still lay ahead.

Figma FIG.N fell 15.2% after the design software firm's first quarterly results as a public company failed to impress investors, who had rallied behind its blowout July debut.

Server maker Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE.N gained 5.6% after beating third-quarter revenue estimates on Wednesday.