DJIA down 0.48% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 03 Sep - US shares opened lower to kick off a holiday-shortened week that will feature a flurry of data that could influence the trajectory for interest rates.

US markets, which ended higher on Friday, were closed yesterday for Labor Day holiday.

A series of data due out later today could provide clues about the health of the economy, including the ISM and S&P Global purchasing managers' surveys, but the main focus of the week will be jobs market data.

A key nonfarm payrolls report on Friday could prompt the Federal Reserve to step up the monetary pivot most investors are expecting it to make this month.

As inflation slowly eases, the labor market has become a major concern for the US central bank after recent data signalled unemployment picking up.

Last week Fed chief Jerome Powell signalled 'the time is right' for an interest rate cut and investors are betting on a 25, or even 50, basis point cut at the central bank's next monetary policy meeting in September.

On the earnings front Zscaler and Broadcom are among the companies reporting results later today.

Shares in US Steel meanwhile were down 4.8% in early trading after vice president Kamala Harris said it should remain American owned, opposing the 14.1 billion dollar takeover proposed by Japan's Nippon Steel.

Just after the opening bell the Dow Jones was down 198.17 points, or 0.48%, at 41,364.91, the S&P 500 was down 31.93 points, or 0.57%, at 5,616.47 while the Nasdaq was down 131.59 points, or 0.74%, at 17,582.03.

AAA-Sje

(RADIOCOR) 03-09-24 15:39:00 (0368) 5 NNNN