WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After trending lower over the past few sessions, stocks may regain some ground in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 112 points.
Traders may go bargain hunting after a report from Bloomberg News indicated the U.S. and China are moving closer to agreeing on the amount of tariffs that would be rolled back in a phase one trade deal.
Citing people familiar with the talks, Bloomberg said U.S. negotiators expect a phase one deal to be completed before U.S. tariffs are set to rise on December 15.
The people told Bloomberg outstanding issues in the talks include how to guarantee China's purchases of U.S. agricultural goods and exactly which tariffs to roll back.
Bloomberg said the people downplayed President Donald Trump's recent remarks suggesting he would like to delay completing an agreement until after the 2020 elections, noting the president was speaking off the cuff.
Nonetheless, the early buying interest may be partly offset by a report from payroll processor ADP showing much weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of November.
ADP said private sector employment rose by 67,000 jobs in November after climbing by a revised 121,000 jobs in October.
Economists had expected employment to jump by 140,000 jobs compared to the addition of 125,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
'The job market is losing its shine,' said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics. 'Job openings are declining and if job growth slows any further unemployment will increase.'
On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly jobs report, which includes both public and private sector jobs.
Economists expect employment to increase by 180,000 jobs in November after climbing by 128,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.6 percent.
Stocks regained ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after falling sharply early in the session but still closed firmly in the red. The major averages closed lower for the third straight session, pulling back further off their record highs.
After hitting its lowest intraday level in a month, the Dow pared its losses but still tumbled 280.23 points or 1 percent to 27,502.81. The Nasdaq fell 47.34 points or 0.6 percent to 8,520.64 and the S&P 500 slid 20.67 points or 0.7 percent to 3,093.20.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged by 1.3 percent.
Meanwhile, European stocks have moved mostly higher on the day, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.1 percent. The German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index have jumped by 0.9 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.87 to $56.97 a barrel after inching up $0.14 to $56.10 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $1,484, down $0.40 compared to the previous session's close of $1,484.40. On Tuesday, gold jumped $15.20.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 108.63 yen compared to the 108.63 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1105 compared to yesterday's $1.1082.
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