Dow climbs to a fresh record high, tech weakness sinks Nasdaq

4:15pm: Major indices end mixed

The Dow ended Wednesday up 97 points, 0.3%, at a record close of 34,230. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, slumped 51 points, 0.4%, to 13,582, and the S&P 500 added 3 points to 4,168.

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) all took stock price hits of more than 1% as tech struggled overall.

12:27pm: Peloton shares swoon on recall news

The Dow enjoyed a volatile morning, including a dip into the red before climbing 136 points, 0.4% at 34,264, which would be a record, at midday. The Nasdaq was up 81 points, 0.6%, to 13,714, while the S&P 500 added 21 points, 0.5%, to 4,185.

“While ADP numbers fell short of some of the loftier expectations today, a 742,000 increase in job numbers is welcome news, and when coupled with strong Markit and ISM services PMI readings it is clear that the world’s largest economy is well on the way to a recovery,” IG Chief Market Analyst Chris Beauchamp wrote.

Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) shares are up more than 3% to $91.72 after the video game producer’s reported quarterly results came in ahead of expectations, driven in no small part by its Call of Duty franchise, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, Peloton Interactive Inc stock tumbled more than 12% to $84.47 on news that the company is recalling treadmills over reports of a death and multiple injuries.

10am: Proactive North America headlines:

One World Lithium Inc (CSE:OWLI) (OTCMTS:OWRDF) engages FnMedia to consult on business development opportunities in Europe

Mountain Valley MD Holdings Inc (CSE:MVMD) (FRA:20MP) (OTCQB:MVMDF) says it has filed a novel cancer adjuvant patent and is proceeding with pre-clinical trials

VR Resources Ltd (CVE:VRR) (FRA:5VR) (OTCBB:VRRCF) identifies high amplitude gravity anomaly at Hecla-Kilmer property and plans follow-up Phase II drilling

IEC Electronics Corp (NASDAQ:IEC) reports rising revenue in fiscal 2Q, sees infrastructure development in the second half of 2021

American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) says selected as consortium member in contract to assess Northern Appalachian critical and rare earth elements

DRDGOLD Ltd (NYSE:DRD) (JSE:DRD) reports lower gold output in first quarter, despite increase in ore processed

Ready Set Gold Corp (CSE:RDY) (OTCPINK:RDYFF) (FRA:0MZ)  reveals final set of drill results from its Northshore gold property showing potential for a ‘regionally significant’ deposit

MedX Health Corporation (CVE:MDX) (OTCMKTS:MDXHF) (FRA:9MH) appoints healthcare veteran Sylvain Desjeans as its chief revenue officer

FSD Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:HUGE) (CSE:HUGE) announces appointment of Nathan Coyle, the company’s corporate controller as its interim chief financial officer with immediate effect

Snowline Gold Corp (CSE:SGD) (OTCPINK:SNWGF) taps prominent geologist Dr Craig Hart as board chairman as it advances its Yukon projects

Genprex wins centralized Institutional Review Board approval for its Acclaim-1 clinical trial in non-small cell lung cancer

Altamira Gold Corp (CVE:ALTA) (FRA:T6UP) (OTCPINK:EQTRF) says it has raised $1,432,087 as a result of the exercise of 12,334,466 share purchase warrants

Heritage Cannabis Holdings Corp (CSE:CANN) (OTCQX:HERTF) (FRA:2UE) launches its premium ArthroCBD softgel capsules in the US market

Tartisan Nickel Corp (CSE:TN) (OTCMKTS:TTSRF) (FRA:8TA) updates on electromagnetic survey results at flagship Kenbridge project ahead of drilling

Goldseek Resources Inc (CSE:GSK) (FRA:4KG) (OTCMKTS:GSKKF) announces 3D modeling and next steps for Beschefer project in Quebec

FansUnite Entertainment Inc (CSE:FANS) (OTCQB:FUNFF) (FRA:4UY)hires SeventySix Capital Sports Advisory to help boost its US brand partnerships

Planet 13 Holdings Inc (CSE:PLTH) (OTCQX:PLNHF) rides Las Vegas tourism revival to record monthly sales of C$10.7M in April

Mydecine Innovations Group Inc (NEO:MYCO) (OTCMKTS:MYCOF) (FRA:0NFA) partners with contract research organization LeadGen Labs to support its psychedelic drug development efforts

Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc (TSE:TBP) (OTCMKTS:TBPMF) (FRA:JAM1) expects to generate over C$47.5M from DanCann Pharma distribution deal

HighGold Mining Inc (CVE:HIGH) (OTCQX:HGGOF) plans at least 16,000 metres of drilling in Alaska this year as it approves C$10M exploration budget

CytoDyn Inc (OTCQB:CYDY) strikes agreement with AEIH in Brazil to run two coronavirus trials using its flagship drug leronlimab

9:35am: Wall Street starts higher

The main indices on Wall Street opened on the front foot on Wednesday after the latest ADP jobs report showed a surge in private sector hiring in April, although less than analysts had expected.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.15% at 34,184, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.47% to 4,184 and the Nasdaq rose 0.85% to 13,748.

Ahead of the widely-watched official non-farm payroll numbers due on Friday, the ADP survey showed 742,000 jobs were added last month. Analysts had been expected a figure of around 850,000.

But the March figure was revised up from 517,000 to 565,000.

Despite the miss, the data is likely to boost hopes of an economic recovery from the pandemic over the summer as vaccinations and an easing of lockdowns see normality return.

7:45am: Wall Street to stage recovery

Wall Street is set to recover after Tuesday’s caution as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rattled the cages with talk of interest rate rises.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which ended off its worst levels despite Yellen’s comments, is expected to open 70 points or 0.22% higher at around 34,203 while the S&P 500 is forecast to rise by 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite, which bore the brunt of Tuesday’s selling and fell 1.88% as growth stocks fell out of favour again,  is set to recover by around 0.5%.

On the data front, there is the latest private-sector payroll report from ADP, which is expected to show a rise from 517,000 in March. The numbers come ahead of the widely-watched non-farm payroll numbers, due on Friday.

Michael Hewson at CMC Markets said: “Expectations for [the ADP report for] April are for another 850,000 jobs to be added; which on the face of it seems a little low when compared to last month’s non-farm payroll number of 916,000 and the expectation this week that could see 1m jobs added on Friday.

“The ADP report appears to be lagging behind when it comes to adding back headcount, which means that at some point we could well see a bit of a catch-up.”

Four things to watch for on Wednesday:

• Big cap firms delivering earnings mid-week include PayPal Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL), ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER) and Booking.com owner Booking Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:BKNG)
• Dogecoin is back in the news after it once again surged to a record value, making it the world’s fourth most valuable crypto by market cap
• Shares in casino group Caesars Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:CZR) may also be in focus after its executives said weekend trips to Las Vegas are sold out for the foreseeable future
• On the macro front, aside from the ADP jobs numbers, investors will be keeping an eye on the US services PMI data for April

Story by ProactiveInvestors