Stocks looked set to rise on Wednesday, although the moves were likely to be muted with investors still trying to make sense of the delayed jobs data that were released during the previous trading session.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 35 points, or 0.1%. Contracts tied to the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were also up 0.1%.
Tuesday’s jumbo jobs report showed unemployment rose to 4.6% in November, the highest level since 2021. Still, the U.S. added 64,000 nonfarm jobs last month, above what economists were expecting. The mixed batch of data means investors are struggling to figure out whether the Federal Reserve will have scope to continue cutting interest rates in early 2026.
