By Carla Mozee and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures notched minor gains
Wednesday, as a better-than-expected report on private-sector
hiring underscored the economy's recent strength.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average could once again test 17,000.
The index came within two points of the mark intraday Tuesday, as
the blue-chip index and S&P 500 both achieved record
closes.
On Wednesday, futures for the Dow industrials (DJU4) rose 19
points, or 0.1%, to 16,895, while those for the S&P 500 (SPU4)
nudged up 1.40 point, or 0.1%, to 1,967.20. Futures for the Nasdaq
100 (NDU4) rose 3 points, or 0.1%, to 3,887.75.
The private sector added 281,000 jobs in June, according to the
ADP report, beating economists expectations for 215,000 new jobs.
The report arrived at 8:15 a.m. Eastern. It presages Thursday's
jobs report from June from the U.S. Labor Department, which will be
released a day earlier than usual because of the July 4th holiday
on Friday.
At 10 a.m. Eastern, government figures on factory orders for May
are due. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect a 0.4% decline in
orders after a 0.7% gain in April.
In addition to the day's data, investors will be watching
Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen. The central banker will deliver
a lecture at the International Monetary Fund's headquarters in
Washington at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, then sit down in conversation
with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
Yellen last month said policy makers always consider financial
stability concerns, but that they aren't shaping monetary policy
"in an important way right now."
Given "the IMF and Ms. Lagarde's view of U.S. policy, this
conversation could take a notably dovish turn," said Marshall
Gittler, head of global FX strategy at IronFX Global, in a note
Wednesday.
Ahead of the opening bell, shares of Constellation Brands Inc.
(STZ) rose 6% in premarket trade after the company, whose brands
include Corona Beer and Svedka vodka, posted better-than-expected
profit and sales for its fiscal first quarter.
Rackspace Hosting Inc. (RAX) shares jumped 8% following a
TechCrunch report that the cloud-services company is thinking of
going private. Meanwhile, shares of GoPro Inc. (GPRO) fell nearly
4% premarket, putting the video-camera maker's stock on track for
its first daily loss since debuting last week.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) may attract investor attention
given news that Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has "curable" throat
cancer.
Paychex Inc. (PAYX) shares fell more than 1% premarket after the
provider of payroll and other human-resources services reported
in-line quarterly results.
In other markets, August oil (CLQ4) fell, and gold futures
(GCQ4) also lost ground.
Stocks in Asia finished higher, including a 0.3% rise of Japan's
Nikkei Average , and the Stoxx Europe 600 extended gains from
Tuesday when it notched its strongest performance in two
months.
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