Investors cheer coming rate cuts, but also contend with job cuts

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed Wednesday, powered by tech shares after a federal court decision allowed Google to keep its Chrome browser.

Optimism around a looming rate cut by the Federal Reserve also buoyed markets, with the CME Fedwatch tool indicating a 96.6% chance of a Fed rate cut in its September meeting later this month.

However, weak economic data seems to hang like a dark cloud over investors. Job openings ticked down in July to levels rarely seen since the Covid-19 pandemic, bolstering fears of cooling in the labor market.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover report showed around 7.18 million listings in July, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday. That’s only the second reading under the 7.2 million level since the end of 2020.

Economists also expect Thursday’s ADP private payrolls report to show a softer print for August, and jobless claims data is expected to show a slight uptick. The unemployment report due Friday is forecast to show jobless rate inching up to 4.3% from 4.2%.

In short, the Fed may be ready to cut rates, but the job market’s cutting deeper.

Trump seeks to save tariffs. U.S. President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to quickly accept and rule on an appeal seeking to overturn lower court decisions that found most of his tariffs are illegal. The request comes five days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said Trump overstepped his authority when he implemented steep levies on virtually every country.

U.S. markets mostly climb. U.S. markets mostly rose Wednesday, boosted by tech shares after a federal court decision in an Alphabet antitrust case meant that Google would not have to sell its Chrome browser. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.03%, and the S&P 500 climbed 0.51%. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was marginally down. Over in Asia, markets tracked the tech rally, with Japan’s Nikkei leading gains.

Bonds under pressure. Long-dated bonds around the world are under pressure again, mainly due to broad investor unease with fiscal as well as monetary policy paths of several major economies. Yields on 30-year bonds in the U.S., UK, Japan and Germany have surged, with Japanese bonds hitting a record high.

Trump to host tech CEOs. Trump will invite high-profile tech and business leaders for an inaugural event in the White House’s renovated Rose Garden on Thursday. Invitees include Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and OpenAI founder Sam Altman.

[PRO] Gold at fresh high. Bullion hit fresh highs this week, with spot values extending their record run above the $3,500 mark into the middle of the week. But analysts say that the yellow metal may still have more to run as demand continues to remain strong.