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Stocks looked set to rise on Wednesday, with investors deciding that delayed jobs data would strengthen the case for the Federal Reserve to carry on cutting interest rates in 2026.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 88 points, or 0.2%. Contracts tied to the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up 0.3%.
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.
Still, investors appear to now be looking on the positive side. Traders are pricing in a 51% chance that the Fed cuts interest rates by at least a quarter point at either its January or March policy meetings, according to the CME FedWatch tool–up from 42% odds a week ago.
“The report on the whole again paints a picture of a stalling labour market, where both hiring and firing remain subdued,” Michael Brown, strategist at the foreign-exchange brokerage Pepperstone, wrote. “That, clearly, keeps further Fed cuts on the cards, possibly as soon as the January meeting depending on what the December jobs report, due early-2026, looks like.”
The sense of uncertainty could build. Chip maker Micron is due to report its fiscal first-quarter results after the close, which could either ease or fuel investors’ worries about bloated artificial-intelligence valuations. Policy decisions from the Bank of England, European Central Bank, and Bank of Japan will add to the noise later this week.
Oil prices were rallying Wednesday after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. The Brent international benchmark rose 1.2% to $59.62 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude prices added 1.3%, to trade at $55.99 a barrel.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked up 2 basis points to 4.17%. The dollar gained 0.4% against a weighted basket of its peers, and gold futures climbed 0.3% to $4,346 an ounce.
