US Stock Market Today: Wall Street rises as weak private jobs data bolsters Fed rate cut hopes

Wall Street stocks rose on Wednesday as weak private jobs data bolstered hopes for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month.

The ADP National Employment Report showed that US employers outside of the government may have cut more jobs in November than they added.

At 11:33 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 254.03 points, or 0.54%, to 47,728.49, the S&P 500 gained 15.11 points, or 0.22%, to 6,844.54 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 20.23 points, or 0.09%, to 23,434.06.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 102.8 points, or 0.22%, to 47,371.62. The S&P 500 fell 14.1 points, or 0.21%, to 6,815.29, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 98.1 points, or 0.42%, to 23,315.58.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.07% from 4.09% late Tuesday.

Key Stock Movers

Microsoft stock dropped 1.8% after a report said the tech giant lowered its sales growth targets for certain artificial intelligence products.

CrowdStrike shares fell 0.5% despite the firm topped analysts’ profit expectations.

American Eagle Outfitters stock rallied 15.4% after the retailer reported a better profit than expected.

Shares of chipmakers Nvidia slipped 0.3% and Broadcom lost 1.6%.

Marvell Technology stock jumped 4.5% after the chipmaker said it will buy semiconductor startup Celestial AI in a deal worth $3.25 billion.

Microchip Technology rose 8.3% after the chipmaker raised its expectations for third quarter results.

Capricor Therapeutics shares surged 352% after the biotech company reported encouraging results for its potential therapy for people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Bullion Market

Gold prices edged up on Wednesday after weak private payrolls data reinforced expectations of a US interest rate cut next week.

At 10:03 a.m. ET (1503 GMT), spot gold was up 0.1% to $4,209.31 an ounce. US gold futures for February delivery were up 0.5% at $4,241.20.

Elsewhere, silver edged 0.2% lower to $58.28 an ounce after touching a record high of $58.94. Platinum gained 0.6% to $1,647.75 an ounce while palladium lost 0.5% to $1,455.34.

Crude Oil

Oil prices climbed on Wednesday after Russia said talks with US officials in Moscow failed to reach a compromise on a potential Ukraine peace deal that could have eased sanctions on its oil sector.

Brent crude gained 46 cents, or 0.7%, to $62.91 by 1453 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate rose 56 cents, or 1%, to $59.20.

Both contracts fell more than 1% in the previous session.