US stocks finished higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing more than 400 points. A weaker-than-expected ADP employment report pointed to a cooling labor market, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates at next week’s policy meeting.
Before the market opened, ADP reported that private payrolls unexpectedly fell by 32,000 in November. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had forecast a gain of 40,000. The data confirmed further labor-market contraction and strengthened traders’ conviction that the Fed will cut rates next week.
Scott Welch, CIO at Certuity, said: “The US labor market is always a focal point. The data is what it is. It will either lead to cuts or not — but I suspect next week’s cut is all but certain.”
According to the CME FedWatch tool, markets now price an 89 percent probability of a rate cut next Wednesday, sharply higher than the mid-November forecast.
US Equities
By market cap, at Wednesday’s close:
NVIDIA fell 1.03 percent, Apple lost 0.71 percent, Alphabet-A rose 1.21 percent, Microsoft dropped 2.5 percent, Amazon slipped 0.87 percent, Broadcom fell 0.25 percent, Meta declined 1.16 percent, TSMC gained 1.15 percent, Tesla surged 4.08 percent, Berkshire Hathaway-A dipped 0.28 percent, and Eli Lilly fell 1.2 percent.
Chinese ADRs mostly weakened, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index down 1.38 percent. Alibaba fell 1.89 percent, JD.com dropped 0.6 percent, Baidu lost 1.44 percent, Pinduoduo slipped 1.43 percent, Bilibili fell 2.36 percent, NIO dropped 4.77 percent, NetEase declined 0.96 percent, while Li Auto and XPeng also traded sharply lower.
Market Recap:
Dow +408.44 points (+0.86 percent) to 47,882.90
Nasdaq +40.42 points (+0.17 percent) to 23,454.09
S&P 500 +20.58 points (+0.30 percent) to 6,849.95
Hong Kong Markets
Hong Kong equities traded higher across the board. Tech stocks were mixed at midday, with Xiaomi, Bilibili, and Meituan up more than 2 percent, while Baidu edged lower.
Robotics stocks outperformed, with Sanhua Intelligent Controls up over 9 percent. US Commerce Secretary Rutnik recently held intensive meetings with robotics CEOs, signaling full government support for accelerating development in the sector. The Trump administration is reportedly considering a robotics-focused executive order next year.
Semiconductor names strengthened as Innoscience gained over 4 percent after announcing strategic cooperation with ON Semiconductor to accelerate GaN adoption across EVs, AI, data centers, and industrial applications.
Market Recap:
Hang Seng Index +0.19 percent to 25,809.45
Hang Seng Tech Index +0.58 percent to 5,567.23
China Enterprises Index +0.38 percent
A50
Mainland A-shares rose in early trading. By midday, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.04 percent, the Shenzhen Component up 0.35 percent, and the ChiNext up 0.76 percent. Turnover totaled 1.04 trillion yuan, down 354 billion from the previous session. Nearly 3,500 stocks declined.
Top-performing sectors included humanoid robotics and commercial aerospace, while consumer, Hainan-related, and tourism sectors lagged.
Market Recap:
Shanghai Composite +0.04 percent to 3,879.52
Shenzhen Component +0.35 percent to 13,000.88
ChiNext +0.76 percent to 3,059.76
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