US stock futures rose on Wednesday as investors looked to data on the health of the labor market for clues to the Federal Reserve’s next policy move.
S&P 500 (^GSPC) futures were 0.2% higher, while Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) futures ticked up 0.1%, or about 45 points. Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) futures moved up 0.2%, after the gauges closed mixed.
Tuesday’s soft reading on jobs openings bolstered optimism for a Fed pivot to cutting interest rates, and markets are pricing in at least 100 basis points of cuts next year. But doubts about policy remain, with strategists warning those bets look “overdone.”
Read more: What the Fed rate-hike pause means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards
Given that, investors will watch for the ADP private-payrolls numbers due later Wednesday, ahead of Friday’s important monthly jobs report. They will be looking out for signs of weakness in the labor market that could persuade the Fed to change course.
Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC-USD) briefly surged past $44,000 as more retail investors dived in and embraced hopes for rate cuts and coming spot bitcoin ETFs. The leading digital asset has since given up those gains, coming off notching a six-day win streak, its longest since May, on Tuesday.
Investors will get a window into America’s largest banks later when the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Bank of America (BAC), among others, give testimony before the Senate’s banking committee.
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