Update: US Equities Mixed as Traders Parse Labor Data, Warsh Remarks
(Updates with latest market prices and developments.)US benchmark equity indexes were mixed intraday as traders parsed fresh labor market data ahead of a key jobs report due out Thursday and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4% at 52,512.9 after midday Wednesday. The index hit new all-time highs in the past two days. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 7,510 intraday Wednesday, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2% to 26,170.6.Among sectors, communication services paced the gainers, while utilities and technology were leading the laggards.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 Wednesday, said inflation risks had eased."Inflation risks have come down," The New York Times quoted Warsh as saying during the event in Portugal.Warsh reiterated commitment to price stability."If people thought this central bank was going to be comfortable with an inflation objective above 2%, they would be disappointed," Warsh said, as reported by Reuters.The US manufacturing sector continued to expand last month, though the pace of growth moderated as higher raw material costs kept input inflation elevated, separate surveys by the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global (SPGI) showed.US Treasury yields were higher intraday, with the two-year yield up 2.1 basis points at 4.16% and the 10-year yield up 4.5 basis points at 4.47%.West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 1.8% at $68.28 a barrel intraday, while Brent fell 2.3% to $71.27.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 were up 9.7% intraday, the third-top gainer on the S&P 500, while Microsoft rose 3.9%, the second-best performer on the Dow. Amazon was up 2.4% and Alphabet's class A shares added 0.5%.Nike (NKE) advanced 2.1%, 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 up 1.1% at $4,083.60 per troy ounce, while silver advanced 1% to $60.51 per ounce.
