US Equity Indexes Rise as Investors Await Friday's August Jobs Report

12:53 PM EDT, 09/04/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark stock indexes rose in midday trading on Thursday as investors digested economic data ahead of Friday's August employment report that could potentially boost hopes for a rate cut this month.

The Nasdaq Composite increased 0.4% to 21,574.5, the S&P 500 went up 0.4% to 6,475.2, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% to 45,478.9. Consumer discretionary led the gainers, while the utilities sector was the biggest decliner intraday.

"Markets are bracing for a dovish nonfarm print [on Friday]," Derek Holt, head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank, said in a note. "Fed funds futures are priced for a cut on [Sept. 17]."

In economic news, ADP's monthly measure of private payrolls showed a 54,000 gain in August, lower than expectations compiled by Bloomberg for a 68,000 increase and following an upwardly revised 106,000 increase in July.

Initial jobless claims rose to a level of 237,000 in the week ended Aug. 30 from a 229,000 level in the previous week, compared with expectations for a smaller increase to 230,000 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

"Coupled with the latest slowdown in payroll growth... the recent slew of disappointing employment data paints an increasingly precarious picture of the US labor market, supporting a potential rate cut by the Federal Reserve," Stifel Chief Economist Lindsey Piegza said in a note. "

The Institute for Supply Management's US services index rose to a reading of 52.0 in August from 50.1 in July, compared with expectations for a smaller gain to a reading of 51.0 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In company news, Salesforce (CRM) reported overnight higher fiscal Q2 adjusted net income and revenue, provided fiscal Q3 guidance, and updated its fiscal 2026 outlook.

Wedbush Securities said in a note that the fiscal Q3 outlook is "relatively underwhelming" and will overshadow Salesforce's (CRM) latest quarterly results. Salesforce (CRM) shares were down over 5% in recent Thursday trading.

Texas Instruments (TXN) shares slid 3.9% after Chief Financial Officer Rafael Lizardi reportedly said that the company's recovery is not happening with the velocity that some have anticipated. The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from MT Newswires.

The US 10-year Treasury yield fell 3.5 basis points to 4.18%. The two-year rate fell 2.2 basis points to 3.59%.

The ICE US Dollar Index was up 0.2% to 98.37.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $63.62 per barrel.

Gold was down 0.6% to $3,612.40 an ounce, and silver declined 1.6% to $41.05 per ounce.

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