4:12pm: Payrolls eyed
US stocks finished the session on the front foot ahead of the highly anticipated US payrolls, due on Friday.
The Nasdaq added 1% at 21,707 points, the S&P 500 added 0.8% at 6,502 points and the Dow Jones was up 0.8% at 45,621 points.
3:40pm: Proactive news headlines
- Charbone Hydrogen Corporation (TSX-V:CH, OTCQB:CHHYF) announced it has signed an Asset Purchase Agreement to acquire operational hydrogen production and refueling equipment in Québec.
- Bit Digital Inc (NASDAQ:BTBT) announced that it held about 121,252 Ethereum (ETH) as of August 31, 2025, representing a market value of around $532.5 million.
- Digi Power X Inc (NASDAQ:DGXX, TSX-V:DGX) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, US Data Centers, has received Tier 3 certification under the ANSI/TIA-942-C-2024 “TIA-942 Ready” standard for its ARMS 200 modular AI data center platform.
- Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd (TSX-V:SCZ, OTC:SZSMF) announced that it has successfully completed its fourth and fifth payments, including the final installment, totaling US$15 million, to Glencore.
- Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CSE:AGN, OTCQB:AGNPF) announced it will change its name to Algernon Health as the company shifts its focus to the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) diagnostic market.
- 374Water Inc (NASDAQ:SCWO) announced recent open-market stock purchases by company insiders, including board members and senior management.
2:32pm: Market movers
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE, ETR:2HP) (HPE) shares were up more than 5% on Thursday after the enterprise technology provider reported better-than-expected financial results for its third quarter 2025, boosted by strong demand in its artificial intelligence (AI) server and networking divisions.
- American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE:AEO) shares surged 28% on Thursday as the clothing company’s second quarter earnings topped Wall Street estimates.
- T Rowe Price Group Inc (NASDAQ:TROW, ETR:TR1) shares moved up about 7% after Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS, ETR:GOS) said it plans to acquire up to $1 billion in T. Rowe Price stock, with the goal of accumulating a 3.5% stake in the global asset management company.
- Asana (NYSE:ASAN) reported better-than-expected results for the second quarter and raised its full-year revenue and margin guidance, sending its shares higher.
- C3.ai (NYSE: AI) shares slid as much as 12% after the artificial-intelligence software company reported first quarter 2026 financial results that disappointed investors and announced Stephen Ehikian as its new CEO.
- Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM, ETR:FOO) reported record second quarter fiscal 2026 results that exceeded expectations across revenue and earnings, but the company's shares fell on conservative guidance for the third quarter.
- Figma (NYSE: FIG) shares slid 18% even as the design software seller reported slightly better than expected financial results for its second quarter 2025.
11:49am: SEC eyes crypto rule changes
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released its Spring 2025 regulatory agenda, highlighting possible updates to rules governing the issuance, custody, and trading of crypto assets.
The agenda is intended to clarify the regulatory framework for digital assets and provide greater certainty for market participants.
SEC chairman Paul Atkins highlighted that defining clear rules for crypto assets is a priority during his tenure.
“A key priority of my chairmanship is clear rules of the road for the issuance, custody, and trading of crypto assets while continuing to discourage bad actors from violating the law,” Atkins said.
10:42am: Gold retreats
Gold pulled back about 0.8% to trade just above $3,600 on Thursday morning.
Kathleen Brooks, XTB research director, noted that as risk sentiment recovers, the gold price is in retreat.
“We expect the gold price to remain supported for the foreseeable future, and we are not the only ones. Earlier today, Goldman Sachs released a report saying that gold could rally to $5,000 per troy ounce if the Federal Reserve’s independence is eroded,” Brooks said.
“Stock markets are mildly higher, although we expect returns to be small as we wait for the key Non Farm Payrolls release on Friday.”
9:55am: S&P edges higher
US stock indices are all green, after a mixed start.
The Dow Jones began in red, but is up 0.1% now, with the S&P 500 rising almost 0.2% and the Nasdaq up 0.15%.
Top risers on the S&P are T Rowe Price, up 7.7% after Goldman Sachs agreed to take a $1bn in asset manager as part of a new partnership.
Salesforce is leading the fallers, down 8.2% on the back of weak revenue guidance even as earnings beat estimates.
8:31am: US private payrolls lower than expected
More weak US job figures, via the ADP report, with private employment rising 54K in August, below the 68K expected.
The data is based on weekly payroll data of more than 26 million private-sector employees.
"The year started with strong job growth, but that momentum has been whipsawed by uncertainty," said ADP chief economist Dr Nela Richardson.
"A variety of things could explain the hiring slowdown, including labor shortages, skittish consumers, and AI disruptions."
Last month, President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after a very disappointing US official jobs report, with the next edition of the non-farm payrolls due tomorrow.
54k ADP (68k expected)
Can Trump fire the head of ADP?
— Sam Ro ???? (@SamRo) September 4, 2025
Stock futures have come back a little, following that, with the Dow now in red, and S&P futures up just 0.15%.
8:05am: Cautiously positive start to be led by Nasdaq, pre-ADP release
Wall Street is predicted to make a cautiously positive start on Thursday, as investors watch out for the ADP employment figures as a precursor to the following day's all-important non-farm payrolls.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 0.2% while Dow Jones futures were barely above flat.
The slight gains follow a mixed midweek session in which the Dow slipped 24 points but the S&P 500 climbed 32 points or 0.5% and the Nasdaq rallied 1%.
That was due to jumps of 9% for Google parent Alphabet and almost 4% for Apple after a legal win, lifting the Mag 7 index by 2.2%.
Excluding those gains, the Equal Weight S&P 500 index lost ground.
Attention turns squarely to the ADP private payrolls report, following the previous day's JOLTs data showing further cooling in the US jobs market.
The ADP will be “more important than usual”, said analyst Francesco Pesole at ING, as this week has already heard about loosening in the labour market.
"Expect no less interest in ADP payroll figures today, for two reasons," said Pesole. "First, after official employment revisions, it appears that ADP data did have some decent predictive power for payrolls.
"Second, the Fed’s hawkish dissenter (and Chair front-runner) Christopher Waller said the weekly reports received from ADP showed continued deterioration."
Consensus is for just 68,000 jobs added, with a softer read adding some cement to bets on lower rates despite Friday’s much more weighty NFPs still to come.
In bonds, yields continue to cool with the 10-year at 4.19%, down three basis points, and similar for the 30-year as it eased back from Tuesday’s brief flirt with 5%.
Bond yields have been "causing all kinds of stress on investors" this week, says market analyst Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth.
He said levels were back to around where they have held for three months now.
Commodities are weaker, with WTI crude sliding 1% to just above $63 a barrel on talk of an OPEC+ supply hike, and gold down $21 at $3,537 as traders lighten positions after a 37% year-to-date surge.