Wall Street opens quiet as weak jobs data tempers optimism in tech shares

US markets open flat as stock futures' early gains retreat; weak jobs data tempers tech optimism

Wall Street opened on a cautious note, shedding early gains seen in US index futures as the private sector jobs data came in sharply below expectations on June 4, raising fresh concerns about the health of the labor market and broader economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near the flatline in early trade, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite too largely unchanged in early trade.

The reversal was triggered by a disappointing report from payrolls firm ADP, which said the US private sector added just 37,000 jobs in May, the slowest pace in over two years. The reading was well below the 110,000 estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones and marked a notable miss even against April’s downwardly revised 60,000.

The data has cast a shadow over Friday’s closely watched non-farm payrolls report, now seen as critical in shaping near-term Federal Reserve policy. Economists currently expect the Labor Department to report a 125,000 increase in May jobs, though that consensus could face downward revisions in light of ADP's miss.

Adding to the market drama, former President Donald Trump took a swipe at Fed Chair Jerome Powell on social media, urging him to cut rates with the comment 'Too Late Powell', minutes after the weak ADP print.

Despite the economic jitters, tech stocks continued to show resilience. Nvidia was up around 0.5% in early trading after a 3% jump on Tuesday that briefly lifted it above Microsoft as the world’s most valuable public company. Broadcom gained 0.8%, while Meta and Alphabet also saw mild gains.

Markets had come into Wednesday riding a four-day rally, helped by cooling trade tensions and a rebound in mega-cap tech. The S&P 500 is still less than 3% off its 52-week high, while the Nasdaq is within 4% and the Dow under 6%.

Elsewhere, South Korean equities were in focus after a decisive presidential election. The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) surged over 2.5% in early U.S. trade, poised to hit a new high for 2025.

Meanwhile, fresh US tariffs on steel and aluminum took effect on June 4, doubling duties to 50% in an aggressive move by Trump to counter 'excess global supply'.