US Markets
Update: Dow Snaps Record Stretch Following Labor Data, Warsh Remarks
(Updates with market moves at the end of the day.)The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped its record run Wednesday as traders assessed fresh labor market data and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh.The Dow ended the session just below the flatline at 52,305.2 after logging closing highs in the past two sessions. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7% to 26,040, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 7,483.2.Among sectors, technology saw the steepest decline, while communication services paced the gainers.In economic news, employment in the US private sector increased less than expected in June, according to ADP (ADP) data released Wednesday, a day before the Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release its widely watched nonfarm payrolls report."The pace of hiring is telling a story of both supply and demand. We know it's taking people longer to find work, but there also are signs of labor supply constraints in certain industries," ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said. "For now, the overall effect is a slowdown in job creation."Separately, Challenger Gray & Christmas said American employers announced 45,849 layoffs last month, down 53% from May and 4% from a year earlier. The reading marked the lowest monthly total since December 2025.The US economy is projected to have added 115,000 jobs in June, according to a Bloomberg-compiled survey. The monthly nonfarm payrolls report, which is usually released on a Friday, will be published on Thursday as US stock and bond markets will be closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday.Warsh, speaking at a European Central Bank forum in Portugal Wednesday, said inflation risks have eased, suggesting the central bank may be headed for another policy pause.The Fed remains committed to deliver price stability in the US, he said, reiterating what the Federal Open Market Committee said in its June policy statement."Inflation risks have come down," Warsh said. "If there were people in household or the business sector or the financial markets who thought that this central bank was going to be comfortable with an inflation objective above 2%, well, I guess they'd be disappointed."Markets expect the Fed to keep rates unchanged again when it meets toward the end of July, according to the CME FedWatch tool."The chairman's more favorable assessment of price pressures suggests an underlying support for maintaining the current level of policy as opposed to rate hikes," Stifel Chief Economist Lindsey Piegza said in a note.US Treasury yields were mixed, with the two-year yield down 1.7 basis points at 4.18% and the 10-year yield up 1.7 basis points at 4.49%.West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 2.1% at $68.01 a barrel in Wednesday late-afternoon trade, while Brent fell 2.5% to $71.16.In company news, Meta Platforms (META) is building a cloud infrastructure business to sell access to AI computing power and models, setting up a new area of competition with Amazon (AMZN) Web Services, Microsoft (MSFT) Azure, and Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google Cloud, Bloomberg reported.Meta shares jumped 8.8%, the third-top gainer on the S&P 500, while Microsoft rose 3%, the third-best performer on the Dow. Amazon advanced 1.4% and Alphabet's class A shares added 1.1%.Nike (NKE) climbed 4.9%, the best performer on the Dow, after the sportswear giant reported fourth-quarter results late Tuesday.The company's latest quarterly results and sales guidance indicate a "choppy" turnaround for the sportswear company amid continued headwinds in China, BofA Securities said.Gold was last up 0.2% at $4,048.20 per troy ounce, while silver fell 0.4% to $59.69 per ounce.
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