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US stock futures wavered on Wednesday as Wall Street waited for fresh jobs data and watched for progress on trade deals with the return of President Trump’s sweeping tariffs just a week away.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) ticked up 0.1%. Meanwhile, S&P 500 futures (ES=F) fluctuated along the flat line, keeping a potential new record high in sight. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) traded broadly flat on the heels of a mixed day for the major gauges.
Markets are watching for signs the US will hammer out deals with the likes of the EU and Japan before a pause on Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs lifts on July 9. Trump reiterated on Tuesday that most countries will get a letter with a “take it or leave it” tariff rate. The fear is that historically high tariff rates could push up inflation as businesses pass on costs, which would likely shape the Federal Reserve’s thinking on interest rates.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Meanwhile, eyes are on an ADP update on private payrolls for June, due before the bell on Wednesday. The data will lay the ground for the release of the June US jobs report on Thursday, also seen as a key factor for the Fed as investors bet an interest-rate cut could land sooner rather than later. Any labor market weakness will be closely watched as it could strengthen the case for easing.
Investors are also keeping an eye on developments around Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” now headed to the House after clearing the Senate thanks to Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote.
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Apple, Alphabet and Tesla are holding the S&P 500 rally back
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Apple and Meta are proving it: AI is going corporate
Apple’s (AAPL) is reportedly considering using AI tech from outside firms to power new version of Siri. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is on an aggressive recruitment drive to poach top AI researchers and engineers.
They’re both signs of a key shift, Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban reports in today’s Morning Brief:
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Tesla stock points higher with deliveries data on deck
Tesla (TSLA) is expected to report yet another quarter of declining global deliveries on Wednesday, though disappointing sales are nothing new for investors and analysts following the company.
Data for June has brought a mixed message. Sales dropped for a sixth straight month in France, Sweden, Denmark and Italy, but rose in Norway and Spain — an early sign that the revamped Model Y is getting some buyers.
Shares of Tesla were edging into the green in premarket before the quarterly data, following a 5% loss on Tuesday as CEO Elon Musk’s feud with President Trump flared up again.
Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:
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Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
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Centene stock plunges after withdrawal of guidance
Shares of Centene (CNC) tumbled over 25% in premarket trading after the healthcare insurer withdrew its financial guidance for 2025, warning that its earnings will fall far short of expectations.
The company said late Tuesday that recent data showed that fewer people were enrolling in the Medicaid and Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and those who did enrol were sicker than expected. Those trends went against Centene’s assumptions are likely to lead to a shortfall of $1.8 billion in federal payouts, the company said.
Centene expects the issue to pull its full-year earnings per shares down by $2.75 a share. Wall Street had previously estimated adjusted EPS of $7.28.
Shares of industry peers Elevance Health (ELV) and Oscar Health (OSCR) also struggled, down 4% and 7%, respectively.
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Trending tickers: Centene, Wolfspeed and Intel
Here are some top stocks trending on Yahoo Finance in premarket trading:
Centene Corporation (CNC) slumped 26% in premarket trading on Wednesday after withdrawing its financial guidance for 2025, warning that earnings will fall short of expectations. Centene is following in the footsteps of fellow insurance group, UnitedHealth (UNH), which pulled its guidance for the year and also replaced its chief executive. This latest news from Centene may add to investor nervousness when it comes to the insurance sector.
Wolfspeed (WOLF) stock fell 8% before the bell today after the semiconductor company filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Intel (INTC) stock fell 1% in premarket trading following the new chief executive’s plan to exploring a big change to its contract manufacturing business. If implemented, the new strategy for what Intel calls its “foundry” business would entail no longer marketing certain chipmaking technology, which the company had long developed, to external customers, the people said.
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Trump tariff risks put Asian stocks’ strong July record to test
If investors are expecting a seasonal lift for Asian equities this summer, they may have to think again. Tariff pressures and macroeconomic concerns have started to dampen sentiment.
Bloomberg News reports:
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Asian markets mixed with tariff deadline in focus, Singapore hits record high
Markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw mixed trading early morning on Wednesday, with investors eyeing the potential of US interest rate cuts and the fast-approaching July 9 tariff deadline for deals to be struck between the US and major trading partners worldwide.
Singapore’s benchmark, the Straits Times Index (^STI), gained 0.5% to hit a record high of 4009.15 points as of 00:20 (UTC-4). The move saw the index crossing past the 4000 threshold for the second time on record.
Australia and Hong Kong led gains as Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 (^AXJO) rose 0.4% and the Hang Seng Index (^HSI) popped 0.7%.
Japan saw loss in the country’s major gauge as the benchmark Nikkei 225 (^N225) slipped 0.7%.
Korea’s Kospi (^KS11) cratered 1.2% as Trump ratcheted up pressure on the country to finalize a trade deal.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 (000300.SS) hovered near the baseline.
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Jeff Bezos sold 3.3 million Amazon Amazon in June
