Stocks moved higher Wednesday morning as investors digested fresh data on the labor market and awaited news on trade talks and budget bill deliberations.
The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite were recently up 0.2% and 0.7%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each fell slightly on Tuesday after closing at record levels the previous two sessions, while the Dow finished higher yesterday to move closer to its first record high since December.
Private sector payrolls data from ADP this morning showed a surprising decline of 33,000 jobs in June, compared to the gain of about 100,000 that economists had estimated. The weak reading comes ahead of the highly anticipated release Thursday morning of the June jobs report from the Labor Department. The economic reports are being closely monitored by investors as the Federal Reserve has said it needs to see more data on how tariffs are affecting the economy before cutting interest rates.
Investors are also keeping close tabs on developments in Washington D.C. as the House of Representatives gets set to debate the massive tax and spending bill that was narrowly approved in the Senate yesterday. Trade talks are also in focus ahead of the July 9 deadline that President Donald Trump has set for huge tariffs to be re-imposed if the U.S. hasn’t reached agreements with leading trade partners.
Tesla (TSLA) shares were up more than 4% this morning after the EV maker released global deliveries figures for the second quarter that showed a sharp decline from a year ago, though the numbers were roughly in line with analysts’ estimates. The stock dropped more than 5% on Tuesday as a feud between Elon Musk and Trump heated up again, with the Tesla CEO criticizing the budget bill and the president saying that Musk’s businesses have benefitted excessively from government subsidies.
Other mega-cap technology stocks were mostly higher. Apple (AAPL) rose 2%, rising for the fourth straight day, while chip giants Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) advanced 2% and 1%, respectively, and Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOG) inched higher. Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META) fell slightly.
Centene (CNC) shares plunged 40% after the health insurer pulled its full-year earnings forecast. Other insurance stocks, including Molina Healthcare (MOH) and Elevance Health (ELH), were also down sharply this morning,
Crypto-related stocks moved higher as the price of bitcoin jumped to $108,000 in recent trading, up from an overnight low of $105,100. Shares of major bitcoin buyer Strategy (MSTR) and crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN) each added more than 2%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, was at 4.30%, up from yesterday’s close of 4.25%. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, rose 0.3% to 97.11, after hitting its weakest levels since early 2022 on Tuesday.
West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were up 0.3% at $65.65 per barrel, while gold futures held steady at $3,350 an ounce.
