Wall Street set to open lower as global bond rout continues

By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open slightly lower on Thursday, tracking global markets, amid a continuing sell-off in global bonds.

U.S. weekly jobless claims stayed near a 15-year low in a sign that the labor market continues to strengthen despite moderate economic growth.

World financial markets were unsettled again as the week-long sell-off in bonds, stocks and the dollar and a race up in oil prices showed little sign of relenting.

The euro hit a ten-week peak, tracking European bond yields higher and benefiting from a sell-off in the dollar.

U.S. Treasuries fell on Wednesday, weighed down by the bond market slide that pushed yields to 2015 peaks.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen's warning on Wednesday of high equity valuations also added pressure to U.S. stocks as anxiety about interest rates continue.

"After years of over wading in fixed income, a lot of bonds investors are starting to take stock and pulling back in advance of these shifting policy moves," said Andrew Barber, chief market strategist at Eagleview Capital in Delaware.

U.S. private employers added far fewer jobs last month than economists expected, posing a downside risk for the more comprehensive nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday.

"We're in a market where bad news maybe good news," Barber said, regarding the possibility of weak employment data.

S&P 500 e-mini futures were down 3 points and their fair value - a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract - indicated a lower open.

Dow Jones industrial average e-mini futures fell 34 points and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures lost 10.50 points.

Alibaba's shares jumped 10 percent to $88.08 in premarket trading as the Chinese e-commerce giant reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly revenue. Yahoo rose 7.6 percent to $44.81.

Tesla shares were down 3.4 percent at $222.55 after it reported a wider quarterly loss and said the strong dollar would crimp gross margins.

Whole Foods slid 12.5 percent to $41.75 after reporting a slowdown in quarterly same-store sales growth.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Savio D'Souza)