WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday but largely maintained a modestly positive bias. The major averages are adding to the gains posted to start the week, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reaching their best intraday levels in over three months.
Currently, the major averages are in positive territory but off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq is up 67.83 points or 0.4 percent at 19,466.79, the S&P 500 is up 16.09 points or 0.3 percent at 5,986.46 and the Dow is up 73.54 points or 0.2 percent at 42,593.18.
The continued strength on Wall Street may reflect optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the release of some weaker than expected U.S. economic data.
Before the start of trading, payroll processor ADP released a report showing much 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.
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!!!'
A separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed service sector activity in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a slight contraction in the month of May.
The ISM said its services PMI fell to 49.9 in May from 51.6 in April, with a reading below 50 indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 52.0.
With the unexpected decrease, the services PMI dropped to its lowest level since hitting 49.2 in June 2024, which marked the last time the index was in contraction territory.
However, the Fed is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 95.6 percent chance the central bank will leave rates unchanged.
Sector News
Pharmaceutical stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index climbing by 1.4 percent.
Notable strength is also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain being posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
Computer hardware, gold and healthcare stocks are also seeing some strength on the day, while most of the other major sectors are showing only modest moves.
Other Markets
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 U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.6 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved sharply higher in reaction to the latest U.S. economic data. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 8.5 basis points at 4.375 percent.
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