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Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures maintained a positive tone in holiday-thinned trade Friday after the widely-watched monthly jobs report confirmed a cooling in the important labor market.

At 08:40 ET (12:40 GMT), Dow Jones Futures traded 30 points, or 0.1%, higher, S&P 500 Futures gained 3 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 32 points, or 0.2%. 

Equity markets were closed for the Independence day holiday on Thursday, but the Wall Street indexes were sitting at record highs hit earlier this week as a swathe of soft economic readings pushed up bets that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates by September.

Payrolls point to slowly cooling labor market 

The key nonfarm payrolls data added to the general perception of a slowing economy, as payrolls came in at 206,000 last month, edging down from 218,000 in May, according to Labor Department data. The May reading was also revised heavily from an initial mark of 272,000.

This result would show some cooling in the jobs market through June, and also comes after a series of weaker-than-expected labor market readings this week.

Weak ADP employment and job openings readings, coupled with a softer non-manufacturing PMI, ramped up hopes that the U.S. economy was cooling, giving the Fed enough confidence to begin cutting rates.

A sufficiently cooling labor market is a key consideration for the Fed in bringing down interest rates- a scenario that is yet to play out. 

The CME Fedwatch tool showed traders pricing in a 66.3% chance for a 25 basis point cut in September, up from the 59.5% seen last week.

Tesla boosted by Chinese demand 

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock rose 2% premarket with several state-owned firms in China's financial hub of Shanghai have recently purchased the EV manufacturer's best-selling Model Y as service cars, following a local media report saying Tesla cars had been made eligible for a Chinese local government purchase list.

Macy’s (NYSE:M) stock rose almost 7% premarket after the Wall Street Journal reported that Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management have raised their bid to buy the department store chain for about $6.9 billion.

Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) stock fell over 4% premarket, with the cryptocurrency exchange suffering after Bitcoin, the world's most popular digital currency, fell to its lowest point since February.

Crude on course for weekly gains 

Crude prices hovered around the flatline on Friday, but were on track for a fourth consecutive positive week on hopes of strong summer fuel demand in the U.S.

By 08:40 ET, the U.S. crude futures (WTI) rose 0.1% to $83.98 a barrel, while the Brent contract traded largely flat at $87.43 a barrel.

Oil rose this week on strong summer demand expectations in the U.S., the world's largest oil consumer, with official data from the Energy Information Administration showing that the country's crude and fuel stockpiles all fell by more than projected last week.

Market sentiment has also been underpinned this week by intensifying geopolitical tension in the Middle East.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

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