US pre-open: Stocks seen mixed ahead of ADP report

US stocks looked set for a mixed open on Wednesday following heavy losses in the previous session, as investors eyed the latest ADP employment report.

At 1040 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.2%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were 0.1% lower and 0.1% higher, respectively.

On the macroeconomic front, the ADP employment report for August is due at 1315 BST, while the Chicago PMI for August is at 1445 BST.

The ADP report will be returning after a two-month absence, during which the methodology was revamped.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "At this point, we have no idea how successful this exercise has been, because ADP has chosen not to publish either the new methodology or the revised historical data until today, in parallel with the August estimate. That makes it impossible to produce a forecast on any basis other than guesswork, so we are amused to see that Bloomberg has recorded 15 projections from economists willing to have a stab, based on no information whatever.

"The median ‘forecast’ is 300K, in line with the consensus estimate for Friday’s official private payroll number. That suggests to us that forecasters are confident that ADP’s new methodology will be reliable but we are not trusting types, as far as ADP is concerned, and we are going to reserve judgement until we have had a chance to look at the new approach."

In equity markets, shares of Snapchat parent Snap were under the cosh in pre-market trade following a report the company is planning to lay off 20% of its employees as it looks to cut costs. According to The Verge, the layoffs - which Snap has been planning for the past several weeks - will begin on Wednesday and hit some departments harder than others.

For example, the team working on ways for developers to build mini apps and games inside Snapchat will be severely impacted, sources told The Verge. Social mapping app Zenly, which was bought by Snap in 2017, will also see deep cuts.