U.S. stock futures pared back gains on Wednesday after private sector hiring hit its lowest level in more than two years.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures hovered around the flatline. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were also flat.
Futures pulled back from its gains earlier in the day after private sector hiring slowed in May. A report from payrolls processing firm ADP showed that payrolls increased only 37,000 for the month, less than the downwardly revised 60,000 in April and below the consensus forecast of 110,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting.
Nvidia shares gained almost 1% in the premarket, as did Broadcom. Meta Platforms and Alphabet also ticked higher before the bell.
Wall Street is coming off a solid session, led by strong gains in tech. The 30-stock Dow rose more than 200 points, or 0.5%, for its fourth positive day. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively. Nvidia rose nearly 3%, surpassing Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable public company once more.
After Tuesday’s gains, the S&P 500 now sits less than 3% from its 52-week high. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is less than 4% from its recent high, and the Dow is less than 6%.
The recent gains have investors increasingly confident stocks have turned a corner on tariffs, especially after a series of reversals from President Donald Trump convinced traders the White House is mainly wielding high levies as a negotiating tool. A federal court striking down Trump’s tariffs just last week added to hopes the market has priced in the worst of the tariffs, though they were later reinstated temporarily by an appeals court.
Futures also appeared to look past Trump’s latest remarks. Earlier on Wednesday, he said dealing with Chinese President Xi Jinping has been “extremely hard.”
The increasingly muted response to trade headlines has more market watchers certain there’s further upside for stocks. This week, Deutsche Bank’s chief U.S. equity and global strategist Binky Chadha raised his year-end S&P 500 forecast.
“We have a quiet week, and markets are rallying,” Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “I think the risk is now of a substantial leg-up rally from here.”
Bank of America downgrades CrowdStrike to neutral rating from buy
In a Wednesday note, Bank of America downgraded security software maker CrowdStrike to a neutral rating from buy.
Shares of CrowdStrike have rallied 43% this year, but were last trading 7% lower in extended trading after issuing a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast. However, the company beat on analysts’ top- and bottom-line expectations in its fiscal first quarter.
Despite its downgrade, Bank of America raised its price objective to $470 from $420 “to reflect recent sector multiple expansion.” This revised forecast implies a downside of nearly 4% from CrowdStrike’s Tuesday closing price of $488.76.
“We favor CrowdStrike’s fundamentals and growth prospects, but believe the valuation leaves only limited upside from the current level,” wrote Bank of America analyst Tal Liani.
Going forward, the analyst expects CrowdStrike’s growth to decelerate.
“2Q revenue growth guidance of 19% was 130bps below the Street, related to CCP impact and amortization of partners program. Management is expecting growth to accelerate by 300bps in 2H, but on an annual basis, we expect growth to decelerate from 21% in ’25 to 18% in ’27,” he continued.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Needham downgrades Apple to hold rating from buy
Needham gave Apple a rare downgrade, citing the iPhone maker’s expensive valuation.
“We move to the sidelines for AAPL owing to its expensive relative valuation, increasing fundamental growth headwinds, and rising competitive threats,” wrote analyst Laura Martin. “We believe that, for AAPL shares to work, they must have the catalyst of an iPhone replacement cycle, which we do not foresee in the next 12 months. Until then, we believe that $170-$180/share is a better entry level for AAPL shares.”
Martin especially pointed to Meta Platforms and Google as two of Apple’s most critical big tech competitors.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full story here.
— Lisa Kailai Han
South Korean stocks rise 2% to lead gains in Asia after opposition leader wins presidential election
Asia-Pacific markets advanced Wednesday after Wall Street rose on the back of a tech rally, led by chipmaker Nvidia, with South Korean stocks leading gains.
South Korean markets rose as opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung won the presidential election. The Kospi index popped 2.66% to end the day at 2,770.84, hitting its highest level since August last year, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 1.34% to 750.21.
Meanwhile, Chinese and Hong Kong markets were little changed after U.S. President Donald Trump commented that it was ‘extremely hard’ to strike a deal with his counterpart Xi Jinping, as a trade stalemate fueled calls for the leaders to talk.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 index moved up 0.43% to close at 3,868.74, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.6% to 23,654.03.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 0.8% to end the day at 37,747.45, while the broader Topix index rose 0.51% to 2,785.13.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day 0.89% higher at 8,541.80. The country’s economy grew 1.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, lower than the estimated 1.5% growth among economists polled by Reuters. The latest reading was unchanged from the previous quarter’s 1.3% year-on-year growth.
Meanwhile, India’s benchmark Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex each advanced 0.29% as of 2 p.m. Indian Standard Time.
— Amala Balakrishner
Stocks making the biggest moves after hours
Check out the companies making headlines after hours.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise — Shares rose 3% after the information technology company beat analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines. Hewlett Packard Enterprise reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of 38 cents per share on revenue of $7.63 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected earnings of 32 cents per share on revenue of $7.45 billion.
CrowdStrike Holdings — The stock dropped more than 6% after the cybersecurity company posted soft revenue guidance for the current quarter. The company called for $1.14 billion to $1.15 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by LSEG sought $1.16 billion.
Read the full list here.
— Sarah Min
Stock futures open little changed
Stock futures opened little changed Tuesday night.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dipped by 4 points, or 0.01%. S&P 500 futures were flat, and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.04%.
— Sarah Min
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