US open: Dow hits record high following stronger-than-expected ADP report
Wall Street trading kicked off with some gains on Wednesday, following the release of a much stronger-than-expected reading on the health of the US jobs market.
As of 1540 BST, the Dow Jones was up 0.58% to 26,928.97, while the S&P 500 was 0.47% higher at 2,937.26 and the Nasdaq was trading 0.52% firmer at 8,041.36.
The Dow Jones surged more than 150 points as the session got underway, hitting a record high of 26,950.
SpreadEx's Connor Campbell, said: "Whatever minor troubles the Dow encountered at the end of September have been more than overcome, with Monday's USMCA deal, and now the improving relationship between the EU and Italy, resulting in a wondrous start to October."
On the data front, private sector payrolls in the States jumped by 230,000 last month, according to ADP, easily beating economists' forecasts for an increase of 184,000.
Pantheon Macroeconomics' Ian Shepherdson said: "We expected to see a small hit from Hurricane Florence, but instead this is the best ADP reading since February. It’s consistent with all the very strong surveys, including the ISMs, JOLTS and NFIB hiring intentions, but it probably overstates the official data.
"In months hit by both severe winter storms or hurricanes, ADP consistently is stronger than the official number. Still, the strength of ADP forces us to lift our estimate for Friday to 150K; the consensus is 185K but that likely will rise after this report."
Elsewhere, business activity in the non-manufacturing sector expanded at a faster pace in September than it had in the previous month, according to the Institute for Supply Management.
ISM's headline PMI improved to 61.6 from 58.5 - surpassing Wall Street estimates of a reading of 58.
Lastly, a raft of Fed speakers are scheduled to take to the podium throughout the afternoon.
They include Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin at 1505 BST, the Cleveland Fed's Loretta Mester at 1705 BST, Fed Governor Lael Brainard at 1900 BST and chairman Jerome Powell at 2100 BST.
On the corporate front, eBay shares picked up 0.75% after it issued a cease-and-desist letter to Amazon wherein it alleged its rival had been attempting to poach its sellers. Amazon was up 0.43% in early trade.
Acuity Brands fell 9.54% as 'well higher input costs took much of the shine off of its earnings beat, while VistaGen shares soared 44.75% after the FDA granted fast-track status to its non-opioid pain treatment.