S&P 500 Notches Fourthstraight Win On Tech Sector Rally

16:18: Investors hope weaker-than-expected economic data won't lead to further interest rate hikes

On Wednesday, the Dow rose 38 points, or 0.1%, to 34,890, the Nasdaq Composite rose 76 points, or 0.5%, to 14,019, and the S&P 500 gained 17 points, or 0.4%, to 4,515. The Russell 2000 small-cap index rose 8 points, or 0.4%, to 1,903.

The S&P 500 posted its fourth straight gain, paring losses in August to 1.6%.

"Traders and investors will want continuity in today's market movements, which will help ensure that the recovery in market performance as September begins is a more sustainable move," Quincy said. Crosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial.

Investors appeared to take the weaker-than-expected ADP data as good news, perhaps arguing that it would make the Federal Reserve less interested in raising interest rates again at its next meeting.

12:00 PM: Tech stocks lead on hopes that interest rates have peaked

U.S. stocks rose again, led by technology stocks, as weak economic data fueled hopes that interest rates had peaked.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.15% at 34,905.51, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% at 4,514.85 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.6% at 14,021.20.

Chris Beauchamp of online trading platform IG said: "Yesterday's strong gains gave way to a more muted tone today, but sentiment on a worsening US jobs outlook was fueled by an error in the ADP report this afternoon."

"As GDP data also weakens, expectations are growing that the Federal Reserve will be less likely to raise interest rates this year, although rate cuts are still a long way off."

Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman fell 4.1% after Wall Street missed forecasts for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 due to delayed whiskey sales, supply issues and a deterioration in restocking.

Net whiskey sales fell 1%, led by the Woodford Reserve and Gentleman Jack brands, despite rising demand for tequila.

09:45: Steady start as investors sift through economic developments

US stocks rose cautiously on Wednesday as investors took stock of weaker-than-expected jobs and GDP figures.

Shortly after the first bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 74.70 points, or 0.2%, at 34,927.37, the S&P 500 was up 5.46 points, or 0.1%, at 4,503.09 and the Nasdaq The Composite rose 2.3% or 0.1%. , from 4503.09.1% to 8.3%. .

Weaker data raised hopes that US interest rates have peaked as investors continue to look for a soft approach to stimulus.

Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics noted that the ADP employment numbers are in line with recent trends in private payrolls, although he believes the ADP numbers are "not a reliable indicator."

Shares in HP Inc fell 11.6% after yesterday's quarterly report revealed weak demand for PCs and printers.

Quarterly financials showed revenue of $13.2 billion, down 10% from a year earlier and short of the $13.4 billion analysts were expecting. Adjusted earnings were $0.86 per share, in line with Street expectations.

8:40 am: Job growth slows, GDP revised down

US private sector job growth slowed sharply in August, according to the ADP National Employment Report.

Private sector employment increased by 177,000 jobs in August, below the FXStreet consensus of 195,000 jobs and well below July's reading of 371,000 jobs.

"This month's numbers are in line with the pace of job creation before the pandemic. "After two years of strong recovery progress, we are moving towards more sustainable wage and job growth as the economic impact of the pandemic fades," said Nella Richardson, ADP's chief economist.

The slowdown was largely driven by the leisure and hospitality sector, where jobs at hotels, restaurants and other sector companies fell by 30,000 in August after months of job gains.

Meanwhile, separate figures showed real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 2.1% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2023, according to a "second" estimate. This value is below the 2.4% reported in the "first estimate" and below. that the street's expectations remain unchanged.

In the first quarter, real GDP grew by 2.0%.

7:00 AM: Wall Street sees little change in labor market and GDP figures

U.S. futures got off to a quiet start on Wall Street, although data released ahead of the opening bell is likely to give direction.

In premarket trading, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were little changed, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2%.

In a data-packed week, ADP will release its US jobs report for July, which will provide an overview of the labor market ahead of Friday's official government data.

Private employment is expected to have added 195,000 jobs in August, down from the 324,000 jobs added in July.

On Tuesday, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed there were 8.827 million unfilled jobs in July, up from 9.165 million in June and below the consensus estimate of 9.465 million, FXStreet reported.

This is the lowest number of openings since March 2021.

Deutsche Bank's Jim Reed said the US numbers "put an end to the growing narrative that the Fed will continue to raise rates in the current cycle."

In fact, the likelihood of another rate hike in November fell from 71% before the JOLTS report to 51% at yesterday's close, he said.

Elsewhere, there will be a health check on the US economy with the second quarter GDP figure.

Economists' second estimate of economic growth in the second quarter was 2.4%, unchanged from the forecast and up from 2% in the first quarter.

On the corporate side, Salesforce.com reported numbers after the closing bell, and Jack Daniel's maker Brown Forman is expected to report results before the opening bell.

Stocks to watch include HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ), whose shares fell about 9% in the premarket after yesterday's quarterly report revealed weak demand for PCs and printers.

6:00 am: First step before marketing

HP shares fell about 9% to $28.57 after yesterday's quarterly report revealed weak demand for PCs and printers.

Quarterly financials showed revenue of $13.2 billion, down 10% from a year earlier and short of the $13.4 billion analysts were expecting. Adjusted earnings were $0.86 per share, in line with Street expectations.

Elsewhere, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co ( NYSE:HPE ) fell just 1.1% to $16.65, although its third-quarter financials were mostly positive if not impressive. Quarterly revenue rose 1% to $7 billion and earnings rose to $0.35 per share from $0.32 a year ago; In the adjusted period, the price was $0.49, beating estimates of $0.47.

Shares of NVIDIA Corp. ( NASDAQ:NVDA ) were trading just below the chipmaker's all-time high in early trading Wednesday after yesterday's announcement of an AI partnership with Google fueled a strong close. Nvidia was trading at $484.46 in premarket trading after the company rose 4% on Tuesday and posted a "record close." The intraday high was set at $502.66 last week after strong quarterly gains.

PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH), the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, rose 2.2% to $82.60 in premarket trading on better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and sales. PVH reported revenue of $2.21 billion, up 4% year-over-year and beating Street expectations of $2.19 billion.

According to the company, sales of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands increased. Adjusted earnings were $1.98 per share, beating analysts' expectations of $1.76.

Shares of Box Inc (NYSE: BOX ) fell 8.4% to $28.21 in early trading after the cloud content management company gave investors weaker-than-expected full-year guidance.

After markets closed on Tuesday, the company reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.36, slightly above Street expectations of $0.35 per share. Revenue was $261.4 million, up 6% year-over-year, beating expectations of $261 million. However, full-year revenue is forecast to be between $1.04 billion and $1.044 billion, below analysts' expectations of $1.05 billion.

Shares of ZTO Express (NYSE: ZTO ) fell 4.8% in early trading on weaker second-quarter results, with revenue missing Wall Street analysts' estimates.

Revenue was $1.34 billion, up from $1.29 billion a year ago, but below expectations of $1.39 billion. The Chinese express delivery company reported adjusted earnings of $0.42 per share, beating Wall Street expectations of $0.39.

05:00: Next day

Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM ) will be closely watched on Wednesday, with results to be released after the closing bell. The software company is expected to post earnings of $1.90 per share on revenue of $8.52 billion.

Analysts at Wedbush expect "comeback kid" Salesforce to deliver positive news and stellar results that will easily beat Street expectations.

They believe Salesforce is in a balanced position for growth and profitability, noting that the company is finally starting to cash in on its flagship acquisition of productivity and communications platform Slack.

Meanwhile, Victoria's Secret & Co shareholders were hoping for better financial results on Wednesday after a disappointing June.

Earnings Expected Announcements: Brown-Forman, Mastercraft Boat, Patterson Companies, CrowdStrike, Chewy

Economic Data: ADP Employment, Home Sales Pending, GDP Forecast, Trade Balance, Crude Oil Inventories, MBA Mortgage Applications

Macro Analysis: S&P500, Nasdaq, Down Jones, Bitcoin, Gold, Silver and US Dollar