Following the upward move seen over the two previous sessions, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by less than a tenth of a percent.
The futures had been pointing to a higher open on Wall Street but gave back ground following the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of May.
ADP said private sector employment rose by 37,000 jobs in May after climbing by a downwardly revised 60,000 jobs in April.
Economists had expected private sector employment to jump by 115,000 jobs compared to the addition of 62,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
“After a strong start to the year, hiring is losing momentum,” said ADP chief economist Dr. Nela Richardson. “Pay growth, however, was little changed in May, holding at robust levels for both job-stayers and job-changers.”
In a post on Truth Social immediately after the report was released, President Donald Trump once again urged Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.
“ADP NUMBER OUT!!! ‘Too Late’ Powell must now LOWER THE RATE,” Trump said. “He is unbelievable!!!”
Not long after the start of trading, the Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its report on service sector activity in the month of May.
The ISM’s services PMI is expected to inch up to 52.0 in May from 51.6 in April, with a reading above 50 indicating growth.
After recovering from early weakness to end Monday’s session mostly higher, stocks saw further upside during trading on Tuesday. With the continued upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over three months.
The major averages ended the day off their highs of the session but still firmly positive. The Nasdaq advanced 156.34 points or 0.8 percent to 19,398.96, the S&P 500 climbed 34.43 points or 0.6 percent to 5,970.37 and the Dow rose 214.16 points or 0.5 percent to 42,519.64.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.8 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.4 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are falling $0.34 to $63.07 a barrel after jumping $0.89 to $63.41 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $3,375.50, down $1.60 compared to the previous session’s close of $3,377.10. On Tuesday, gold slid $20.10.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 143.57 yen compared to the 143.97 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1402 compared to yesterday’s $1.1372.
Business News
Futures Give Back Ground Following Disappointing Private Sector Jobs Data
2025-06-04 12:50:07
