Futures Pointing To Modestly Lower Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open on Wednesday, with stocks likely to move to the downside following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.

The futures edged lower following the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector employment in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of June.

ADP said private sector employment fell by 33,000 jobs in June after rising by a downwardly revised 29,000 jobs in May.

Economists had expected private sector employment to increase by 95,000 jobs compared to the addition of 37,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

"Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month," said ADP chief economist Dr. Nela Richardson.

After trending higher over the past several sessions, the major U.S. stock indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday.

While the Dow showed a notable advance to reach its best closing level in over four months, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 gave back ground.

The Dow jumped 400.17 points or 0.9 percent to 44,494.94, but the S&P 500 edged down 6.94 points or 0.1 percent to 6,198.01 and the Nasdaq slid 166.84 points or 0.8 percent to 20,202.89.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came following the strong performance seen in recent sessions, which saw the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reach new record highs.

Traders also continued to keep an eye on developments in Washington, D.C., where the Senate narrowly voted to approve President Donald Trump's massive tax cuts and spending bill.

With Vice President J.D. Vance voting to break a 50-50 tie, the legislation now heads back to the House, where the Republicans hold a narrow majority.

On the U.S. economic front, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a modest increase by its reading on U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of June.

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI crept up to 49.0 in June from 48.5 in May, although a reading below 50 still indicates contraction. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 48.8.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed an unexpected increase by job openings in the U.S. in the month of May.

The Labor Department said job openings climbed to 7.769 million in May from an upwardly revised 7.395 million in April.

Economists had expected job openings to decrease to 7.300 million from the 7.391 million originally reported for the previous month.

Housing stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index surging by 3.3 percent.

Significant strength was also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 2.9 percent jump by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.

Transportation, banking and pharmaceutical stocks also saw notable strength, while software and natural gas stocks moved to the downside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are climbing $0.71 to $66.16 a barrel after rising $0.34 to $65.45 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $3,356.10, up $6.30 compared to the previous session's close of $3,349.80. On Tuesday, gold jumped $42.10.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 143.85 yen compared to the 143.42 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1760 compared to yesterday's $1.1806.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Wednesday as U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at higher tariffs on certain countries after the July 9th deadline and Senate Republicans narrowly advanced his tax and spending bill, which risks a $3 trillion deficit before Trump's term ends.

The U.S. dollar held near 3-1/2-year lows in Asian trading and gold edged down after two days of gains as investors awaited U.S. payroll data and assessed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's cautious stance on rate cuts. Oil prices held steady ahead of a key OPEC+ decision on August output policy.

China's Shanghai Composite Index finished marginally lower at 3,454.79 as tech shares fell amid ongoing global trade tensions. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.6 percent to 24,221.41 as traders returned from a holiday.

Japanese markets ended lower after Trump criticized Japan's trade policies and threatened to raise import tariffs on the country to 30 or 35 percent.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump criticized Japan's reluctance to accept imports of U.S. rice as well as the imbalance in auto trade between the two countries.

The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.6 percent to 39,762.48, while the broader Topix Index settled 0.2 percent lower at 2,826.04. Kawasaki Heavy Industries lost 5 percent and Konami Group Corp plunged 6.9 percent while Daikin Industries surged 4.6 percent.

Seoul stocks ended lower as investors took profits from recent gains. The Kospi dropped 0.5 percent to 3,075.06, snapping a two-day winning streak.

While SK Hynix tumbled 2.3 percent, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, LG Energy Solution and KB Financial surged 1-2 percent. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings jumped 4.4 percent to 288,000 won.

Australian markets advanced as higher commodity prices boosted miners. Real estate stocks also performed well due to expectations of interest-rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of Australia next week.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.7 percent to 8,597.70, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended 0.7 percent higher at 8,828.70.

Airline Qantas fell 2.2 percent after it was hit by a significant cyberattack. Pizza chain operator Domino's Pizza Enterprises slumped 15.8 percent on news its group CEO Mark van Dyck is stepping down.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index rose 0.4 percent to 12,784.29.

Europe

European stocks traded higher on Wednesday as investors pondered the prospect of Federal Reserve rate cuts and hoped for a positive resolution on trade discussions ahead of completion of 90-day tariff pause on July 9.

EU's trade chief is expected to hold negotiations this week in Washington to avert higher U.S. tariffs.

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.3 percent to 541.97 after falling 0.2 percent on Tuesday.

The German DAX gained half a percent, France's CAC 40 surged 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up by 0.1 percent.

In corporate news, budget airline Wizz Air Holdings rallied 2.4 percent after releasing improved passenger traffic statistics for June.

Tile retailer Topps Tiles jumped 7.3 percent on reporting a 10 percent rise in quarterly sales.

Bytes Technology Group shares plunged 25 percent after the software reseller warned of lower first-half profit.

Similarly, bakery chain Greggs plummeted 14 percent after a profit warning.

U.S. Economic News

Private sector employment in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of June, according to a report released by payroll processor ADP on Wednesday.

ADP said private sector employment fell by 33,000 jobs in June after rising by a downwardly revised 29,000 jobs in May.

Economists had expected private sector employment to increase by 95,000 jobs compared to the addition of 37,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

"Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month," said ADP chief economist Dr. Nela Richardson.

At 10:30 am ET, the Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its report on crude oil inventories in the week ended June 27th . Crude oil inventories are expected to decrease by 2.0 million barrels after slumping by 5.8 million barrels in the previous week.