US stocks jump during opening trade on impressive ADP report
Today's upbeat ADP report partly offset worries over the US President Donald Trump's ability to deliver pro-growth economic policies and helped US equity markets to witness strong opening on Wednesday.
Investors shrugged-off geopolitical tension on reports of another North Korean missile launch and instead cheered a blockbuster reading on private sector employment, showing employers added 263K new jobs in March. The reading surpassed expectations pointing to a gain of 187K and was also better-than last month's stellar reading of 245K (revised lower from 298K).
Meanwhile, bullish sentiment around oil markets, with WTI crude oil staging a strong rally of around 1.5% and now fast approaching the $52.00 handle, helped energy stocks and supported investors' appetite for riskier assets - like equities.
Further gains, however, might be capped as investors look forward to the release of Fed meeting minutes, which is likely to drive sentiment later during the day. Moreover, investors would also be inclined to lock-in some short-term gains ahead of the crucial meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. and the keenly watched official jobs data, NFP on Friday .
t the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 150-points to 20,840, while the broader S&P 500 Index around 13-points to 2,373. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 25-points and rose to 5,925.