US stocks seen starting lower as all eyes focus on Friday's jobs data and Fed reaction

US stocks are expected to start the new week on the back foot as investors brace for the start of a new month which will bring the always important latest US job data on Friday, although no pointers are due to provide any direction on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open at around 34,403, down 31 points on Friday's close, while the broader S&P 500 is expected to start at around 4,282, off a point or so. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is tipped to open 12 points weaker at 14,372. “With no US economic data for investors to focus on, attention will be firmly on John Williams and Patrick Harker, Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Philadephia, respectively, for further clues over the next steps,” said Sophie Griffiths, market analyst at OANDA. She added: "Fed speakers have been sending mixed messages. We know the Reserve is thinking about policy normalisation, but at the same time, Fed speakers are also insisting the spike in inflation is temporary, and there is no rush to start hiking rates." The Fed's preferred measure of inflation, the PCE, increased by a smaller-than-expected 0.5% month-on-month in May indicating that the Fed might not be so rushed to start tightening monetary policy.