Wall Street still manages positive start despite ADP disappointment

The main Wall Street indices still managed to begin Wednesday’s session in the green despite August’s ADP jobs report falling well short of market expectations.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.38% to 28,755, while the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 3,540 and the Nasdaq climbed 0.59% to 12,010.

The ADP report showed that the US economy added 428,000 private sector jobs in August, well below the 950,000 predicted by analysts, however this was a marked increase from the 212,000 figure for July.

Instead, markets seem to have looked elsewhere for positivity, particularly reports that US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has restarted talks with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a fresh round of stimulus measures.

Also potentially lifting markets were comments by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci, who said a vaccine for coronavirus could come sooner than expected if the multiple firms working on such a product delivered outstanding preliminary results from trials.

7.49am: Wall Street to kick off on the front foot

Wall Street is expected to start open higher on Wednesday, a day after tech behemoth Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) overtook the entire value of the UK’s FTSE 100 blue-chip index, having hit US$2.2 trillion of market capitalization.

According to the spread-betters, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open up 172 points at 28,816, while the S&P 500 is predicted to climb 24 points to 3,551 with the Nasdaq starting 120 points higher at 12,433.

All eyes are likely to be on the ADP private sector employment report ahead of Thursday’s weekly claims count and Friday’s main nonfarm payrolls print.

Jack Daniels producer Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF.B) is also going to be in focus with its first quarter release.

In June it posted a 5% fall in fourth-quarter revenue to US$709mln due to the pandemic, with analysts wondering whether easier restrictions globally have helped summer trading.

Five things to watch for on Wednesday:

• The ADP private sector jobs report for August will be the key piece of macro news ahead of Friday’s non-farm payrolls, with the data expected to show the US economy added 950,000 jobs during the month, a sharp increase on the 167,000 created in July
• US factory orders for July will also provide some macroeconomic clarity, with growth of 6% expected for the month, down slightly from 6.2% in June’s report
• Macro observers will also be keeping an eye on the Fed’s beige book for insight into the US business environment
• Share price reaction from department store chain Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) after the group reported a narrower than expected loss for its second quarter as its sales beat market expectations
• Political developments following reports that US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin is meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to urgently discuss new stimulus measures

Story by ProactiveInvestors