The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Wednesday as traders moved past the latest jobs data from ADP as well as some pressure on Microsoft
The 30-stock index hiked 183.26 points to pause for lunch at 47,657.72.
The S&P 500 Index regained 3.5 points to 6,832.87.
The NASDAQ sank 27.86 points to 23,385.82.
Microsoft shares fell almost 2% after The Information reported it was cutting software sales quotas tied to artificial intelligence. The stock came off its lows of the session after the company denied that they had lowered sales quotas for salespeople.
Other names linked to the AI trade, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell in sympathy with Microsoft. Nvidia was marginally lower, while Broadcom retreated more than 1%. Micron Technology was also under pressure, dropping more than 1%.
almost 1%, while Broadcom retreated more than 2%.
American Eagle Outfitters was another standout, rallying more than 14% after it became the latest retailer to lift its full-year forecast. The apparel company said the holiday shopping season was off to strong start.
Stock losses were mitigated, however, after payrolls processor ADP reported that private payrolls surprisingly declined by 32,000 in November. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected an increase of 40,000 for the month.
Despite the tough reading on the economy, traders were likely betting that the private job losses could clinch a Federal Reserve rate cut at its last meeting of the year next week.
Traders are optimistic about corporate earnings results and are looking ahead to the Fed’s interest rate decision on Dec. 10. Markets are pricing a roughly 89% chance of a cut during the upcoming meeting, which is much higher than the odds from mid-November.
The 10-year Treasury gained, lowering yields to 4.07% from Tuesday’s 4.09%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 35 cents to $58.99.
Gold prices spiked $27.70 to $4,248.50.
