Stock market today: US stocks edge up as traders mull cooler private payroll data

• US stocks were slightly higher on Wednesday after the latest private payroll report.
• Private payrolls rose 150,000 jobs last month, fewer than expected.
• Markets are looking ahead to the June nonfarm payroll report as the next key data point.  

US stocks ticked higher on Wednesday as traders took in softer-than-expected jobs data.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were looking to add to Tuesday's record close. Bond yields edged lower three basis points to 4.4%.

ADP data showed private payrolls grew just 150,000 last month, less than the 160,000 jobs economists expected. Wage growth also slowed to 4.9%, the smallest pay increase recorded since 2021.

"Job growth has been solid, but not broad-based," Nela Richardson, the chief economist of ADP said in a statement. "Had it not been for a rebound in hiring in leisure and hospitality, June would have been a downbeat month."

A slower pace of hiring may bolster the case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates later this year, but it also casts doubt over whether the US can pull off the soft landing that Wall Street is hoping for.

Markets are pricing in one or two rate cuts by the end of the year, but are largely expecting the Fed to keep interest rates within the 5.25%-5.50% range at this month's policy meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Investors will close up shop at the end of Wednesday's session for the Independence Day holiday. Markets will reopen on Friday, when all eyes will be on the June nonfarm payroll report as the next key piece of jobs data that could inform the path of Fed policy.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 5,514.12, up 0.07%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 39,382.17, up 0.13% (+72.14 points)

• Nasdaq composite: 18,034.55, up 0.03%

  Here's what else is going on today:

• The bond market is acting like Trump will win.
• Steve Ballmer is now worth $158 billion — more than Microsoft boss Bill Gates.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil ticked higher 0.30% to $83.06 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 0.27% to $86.47 a barrel.
• Gold rose 0.86% to $2,349 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield dipped three basis points to 4.401%.
• Bitcoin slid 4.19% to $60,152.