US Stock Market Today S&P 500 Futures Climb On Cooler Wage And Services Data

Simply Wall St

Mon, April 6, 2026 at 6:06 AM EDT 3 min read

Find winning stocks in any market cycle. Join 7 million investors using Simply Wall St’s investing ideas for FREE.

US stock futures are pointing higher this morning, with key index contracts up around 0.7% to 1.1% as investors weigh a mix of strong jobs data and mixed growth signals. The March nonfarm payrolls report showed 178,000 new jobs and unemployment at 4.3%, a sign the job market is still adding work even as wage growth cools to roughly 3.5% to 3.7% a year. This eases pressure on pay packets and on interest rates. At the same time, the US Services PMI slipped to 49.8 and the Composite PMI to 50.3, hinting that overall business activity is close to stalling. The big question now is whether this mix of solid hiring but softer services keeps the Federal Reserve on hold and what that means for interest rate sensitive areas such as banks and real estate, compared with growth focused sectors such as technology and smaller companies.

If you want clearer direction while rates stay in flux, start with the 67 resilient stocks with low risk scores.

• SBA Communications (SBAC) jumped 18.93% after reports it is exploring a potential sale following takeover interest.

• AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) gained 10.27% alongside fresh headlines about SpaceX’s confidential IPO filing and valuation plans.

• Astera Labs (ALAB) rose 10.17% after an updated analyst price target from Citi on the newly public chip stock.

Is AST SpaceMobile still a smart investment or just hype? Read our most popular narrative and get all the answers you need.

• Tesla (TSLA) slipped 5.42% after Q1 deliveries and energy storage results came in below expectations.

• General Electric (GE) declined 3.94% following a reduced price target from Citi on GE Aerospace.

• Arm Holdings (ARM) fell 3.84% despite IBM announcing a new AI focused collaboration with the company.

Look past the noise – uncover the top narrative that explains what truly matters for Arm Holdings’ long-term success.

The next few days are light on data but feature a key consumer earnings report and several shareholder meetings.

• US inflation and activity backdrop: Recent PMI softness and modest wage growth keep attention on how inflation data shape Fed expectations.

• Rates and bonds: The US 10 year yield near 4.35% keeps funding costs and growth stock valuations in focus.

• Constellation Brands (STZ): Q4 results on Wednesday will spotlight beer and spirits demand and any commentary on consumer spending.

• SLB (SLB): Wednesday’s Annual General Meeting may highlight how energy costs and Middle East tensions are affecting project activity and capital plans.

• Dow (DOW) and Lennar (LEN): Thursday shareholder meetings could give extra color on materials demand and US housing sentiment.