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US stocks rose on Thursday as weaker labor market data strengthened expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts. At 10:39 a.m., the S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ 100 each gained 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.2%. The Cboe Volatility Index hovered near 16, and the 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.20%.
ADP reported private payrolls increased by 54,000 in August, well below the forecast of 65,000. Challenger, Gray & Christmas said planned job cuts reached the highest level since 2020. Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, noted a “noticeable slowdown” in hiring.
Neil Dutta, head of economic research at Renaissance Macro Research, said consumers sense labor conditions are worsening. He told Bloomberg TV that households often detect changes before official government data confirms them.
The weaker job numbers supported growing expectations of interest-rate cuts. Traders now assign a 97% probability of a cut at the Fed’s September meeting, up from 91.7% a day earlier. Analysts suggest additional weakness in Friday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report could reinforce the case for deeper easing.
Eric Teal, chief investment officer at Comerica Wealth Management, said softer labor conditions give policymakers more scope to act. “The weaker the jobs data, the more cover there is for stimulative interest rate cuts,” he explained in a client note.
A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management showed stronger-than-expected growth in the services sector. However, the survey highlighted shrinking employment for the third consecutive month, underscoring the slowdown in hiring.
Corporate earnings painted a mixed picture. Salesforce shares dropped 6.4% after forecasting slow quarterly sales. GitLab fell 8.6% after issuing a weak outlook and announcing its finance chief will join Snowflake. Figma tumbled 17% on a disappointing sales forecast. Texas Instruments lost 5.5% after its CFO warned recovery expectations were premature.
In contrast, HP Enterprise rose after projecting stronger free cash flow. Goldman Sachs gained 5% after committing to buy $1 billion of T. Rowe Price stock. American Eagle surged 30% as results exceeded estimates, with demand boosted by a marketing campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney.
Investors now await earnings from Broadcom, one of the heaviest-weighted companies in the S&P 500. The report is seen as a test for sentiment in the artificial intelligence sector, which has shown signs of slowing momentum.
Outside traditional markets, Ondo Finance and Block Street announced a partnership to bring tokenized US stocks on-chain. The collaboration seeks to expand access to equities around the clock and introduce lending strategies like shorting and hedging in decentralized finance.
Ondo CEO Nathan Allman compared the initiative to how stablecoins exported the US dollar onto blockchain networks. Block Street co-founder Hedy Wang said the partnership will enhance tokenized equities by transforming them into financial primitives rather than static wrappers. Standard Chartered research projects real-world asset tokenization could surpass $30 trillion by 2034, highlighting the sector’s long-term potential.
Also Read: US Stock Market Today: S&P 500 rises 0.4%, NASDAQ gains 0.5%, Alphabet surges 8%
