Nasdaq-100 futures declined Thursday as investors dumped risk assets, and concerns mounted over the outlook for the U.S. economy. Futures tied to the Nasdaq dropped 0.5%, while S&P 500 futures dipped 0.2.%. Futures connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near the flatline. Investors ditched popular technology and chip stocks as economic worries resurged. Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices lost more than 1%, while Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Alphabet dipped less than 1% each. Fresh labor market data Thursday sent mixed signals about the health of the U.S. economy as questions linger over whether the Federal Reserve is behind the curve on rate cuts. Private payrolls data showed the weakest growth since 2021, heightening fears of a slowing labor market. However, weekly jobless claims data showed a decline from the previous week. The market has shown hyper sensitivity to potential growth scares in recent weeks, including Tuesday’s sell-off on the heels of weak manufacturing data. That puts heightened scrutiny on labor market data. “While incoming data is mixed, it is not collapsing, and the global cutting cycle should help the economy achieve a soft landing, extending the cycle into 2025,” said Barclays’ Emmanuel Cau. Although the U.S. economy remains on track for a “soft landing” scenario, ongoing market turbulence isn’t out of the question in the near term. “We see this as a broadly positive environment for equities, but a lot is arguably priced in, and there are a number of wildcards to get through,” Cau added. Tesla rose about 3% before the bell after the electric vehicle maker said it plans to launch its full self-driving driver assistance software in Europe and China early next year. Frontier Communications dropped 10% after Verizon said it would buy the company in a $20 billion deal. Verizon added 1%. Thursday’s premarket moves come after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each closed lower for the second straight session. The Dow squeezed out a gain of 38 points. All three averages are down for the week ahead of Friday’s keynote August nonfarm payrolls report. U.S. Treasury yields ticked lower on Thursday as the latest employment data came in far weaker than expected. The yield on the 10-year Treasury yield shed more than 2 basis points to 3.742%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last at 3.731% after sliding by around 4 basis points. Asia-Pacific markets closed mixed on Thursday after a sell-off in the previous session, with Japan’s Nikkei leading losses in the region. The Nikkei 225 fell 1.05% to close at 36,657.09, while the broad-based Topix fell 0.48% to end at 2,620.76, after the release of Japan’s July wage data. The Hang Seng index was down 0.24% as of it final hour of trade, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.17% higher to close at 3,257.76. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.21% to close at 2,575.5, while the small cap Kosdaq dropped 0.88% lower at 725.28. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to close at 7,982.4. U.S. crude oil traded above $69 per barrel on Thursday, hovering near a nine-month low as the market worries about the supply and demand balance for the rest of the year. The U.S. benchmark has shed more than 5% this week, while the Brent global benchmark is down 7.2%. Crude oil futures have lost all gains for the year. West Texas Intermediate October contract: $69.45 per barrel, up 25 cents, or 0.36%. Year to date, the U.S. benchmark has fallen 3%. Brent November contract: $73.09 per barrel, up 39 cents, or 0.54%. Year to date, the global benchmark has pulled back 5.2%. Gold rose on Thursday fuelled by expectations of a deeper U.S. Federal Reserve rate-cutting cycle, which is widely expected to start this month. Spot gold was up 0.9% at $2,516.18 per ounce. The bullion hit a record high of $2,531.60 on Aug. 20. Gold is supported by a global economic slowdown “that has raised the downside risk across growth-dependent commodities” and also “lifted the prospect for a more aggressive rate-cutting cycle,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank. The widely expected cut has prompted physically backed gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to resume purchases in recent months.