- New records for S&P 500, Nasdaq
- Tesla makes gains for seventh day in a row
- Markets closed until Friday
1:15pm: New highs
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched new record high closing levels after Wednesday’s shortened trading session.
The S&P 500 was up 0.5% at 5,537 points, closing above 5,500 points for the second day in a row.
The Nasdaq added 0.9%, bolstered by a 6.5% gain in Tesla, at 18,188 points.
The Dow Jones closed modestly lower, down 23 points at 39,308 points.
Markets will be closed on Thursday for the Fourth of July holiday with investors looking ahead to the release of the June jobs report on Friday at 8.30am Eastern Time.
12:07pm: Mixed at midday
The S&P 500 was on track to set another record close for Wednesday’s holiday-shortened session, trading 0.3% higher at 5,523 points at noon.
US stocks were mixed as investors digested weaker-than-expected labor market data, building on other signs that US economic data is bringing more negative surprises than positive ones.
“Overall, there is a growing body of evidence that the US economic data is turning lower and could point towards a potential recession later this year,” XTB research director Kathleen Brooks commented.
“It also puts the spotlight firmly on the September Fed meeting, when the market seems to think that the Fed could cut rates.”
The Nasdaq pulled 0.7% higher at 18,153 boosted by Tesla’s rally on strong quarterly delivery numbers while the Dow Jones traded 0.2% lower at 39,251 points.
Stock markets will close at 1pm on Wednesday and will remain closed on Thursday to mark the Independence Day holiday.
9.37am: Wall Street flat
Wall Street has opened flat today as investors prepare for a shortened trading session and react to cooler-than-expected labour market data.
Ahead of Friday's highly important jobs report, ADP data revealed that private payroll growth was less than expected in June, while weekly jobless claims rose ahead of market consensus.
Private payrolls jumped by 150,000 in June, less than the 160,000 forecast by Dow Jones and down on the 157,000 in May.
Meanwhile, jobless claims reached 238,000 for the week ending June 29, ahead of guidance of 233,000 and up on the week prior's 234,000.
In company news, Paramount shares jumped more than 8% after it announced Skydance Media had issued a newly-revised bid.
Skydance, the independent studio created by David Ellison (son of Oracle's Larry Ellison), provided a rebuffed offer to attempt to secure the deal, months after Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount, ended the discussions abruptly, The Financial Times reports revealed.
8.36am: Wall Street flat as Tesla gets its "mojo back"
Wall Street is still holding flat in premarket trading today, with shares in the S&P 500 looking to hold at the 5,500 mark, of which it closed on Tuesday at for the first time ever.
Shares in Tesla are set to open more than 1.5% higher after it continued to rally on the back of better-than-expected delivery figures, putting it on course for a seventh consecutive session of positive trading.
Wedbush analysts claimed the upturn in shares, signifies that the EV maker finally has its "mojo back".
"With the majority of price cuts in the rear-view mirror and demand stabilization globally for EVs especially in China, we believe Tesla's march towards two million units annual trajectory should be reached over the coming quarters," analysts at the tech broker said.
"The key for Tesla's stock is the Street recognizing that it is the most undervalued AI play in the market in our view with a historical Robotaxi Day on August 8 that will lay the yellow brick road to FSD and an autonomous future."
7.31am: Wall Street set for quiet start
Wall Street is poised for a mixed open today as the market reacts to the Federal Reserve becoming more dovish on the rate cut front and the growing belief that Biden won't win the upcoming election.
Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are on track to open flat, while Dow Jones's futures are indicating it will lift by 37 points.
"Last night Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a fairly dovish speech, with the headline being that the US central bank has made progress on reducing inflation," said David Morrison at Trade Nation.
"But he went on to say that he needs to see more evidence that inflation is on a sustainable path back towards the 2% target before he will be happy to loosen monetary policy.
"Despite this, the market continues to assign a high probability for two 25 basis point rate cuts before year-end."
Elsewhere, markets are betting that Biden won't win another term as president after his self-proclaimed loss in last week's live debate.
Odds for Biden to take office for a second term have dropped by 32% since the live debate, while bets on Trump have been on the rise, says political betting site PredicIt.
Biden claimed his poor performance was because of jet lag and said that he "wasn't very smart" for "travelling around the world a couple of times".
"I didn’t listen to my staff... and then I nearly fell asleep on stage,” he told reporters.