Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures wobble with ADP jobs data, trade deals in focus

Apple (AAPL) stock climbed about 1% Wednesday before the market open following an upgrade from analysts at Jefferies, who raised their rating to Hold from Underperform previously.

Citing Counterpoint Research, Jefferies analyst Edison Lee said global iPhone sales rose 15% in April and May from the prior year, the strongest growth since the third quarter of 2021. Lee estimated that iPhone sales in China grew 19% in that period, partly due to targeted discounts and government subsidies as well as “pulled-in demand,” or Chinese consumers buying phones ahead of anticipated tariffs.

“This is a strong sign that AAPL is determined to defend market share in China, and Chinese consumers are still willing to buy iPhone at lower prices,” Lee wrote.

But he also said the release of the iPhone 17 in the second half of 2025 may not provide the boost Apple needs. Lee wrote that “sales could be at risk since there remains a lack of new features, and AI is not yet a game changer.”

Apple shares jumped 1.3% Tuesday following a report from Bloomberg that the iPhone maker is considering using AI technology from startups Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) or OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) to power a new version of Siri.

Still, the stock was down 17% for the 12 months through Tuesday.

Nvidia (NVDA) stock continued to retreat from its record high of $157.99 on Monday. Shares were down 1.2% in premarket trading.

The AI chipmaker had reclaimed the top spot among the most valued companies worldwide in June, with a market cap of around $3.73 trillion, as of July 1. Microsoft (MSFT), the second most valued company, has a market cap of roughly $3.65 trillion.

From Reuters:

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Private employers unexpectedly cut 33,000 jobs in June, the latest signal of an intensifying slowdown in the US labor market.

On Wednesday, data from ADP showed private payrolls fell by 33,000 last month in June, below the 29,000 job gains seen in May and the 98,000 additions expected by economists.

This marked the first month of job losses in the private sector since March 2023. May’s initial reading of 37,000 private payroll additions had been the lowest monthly total since March ’23.

“Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month,” ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said in the release. “Still, the slowdown in hiring has yet to disrupt pay growth.”

Read more here.

Some of the world’s most influential stocks are dragging the S&P 500 Index (^GSPC) down. The names Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) — part of the Mag 7 and synonymous with growth and value seem to be preventing the S&P 500 from reaching further highs.

Bloomberg News reports:

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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:

Read more here.

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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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.

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.

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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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.