Stock futures rise ahead of private payrolls report: Live updates

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio rose more than 1% in the premarket after Reuters reported, citing three people with knowledge of the matter, that the company received regulatory approval to build a third factory in China.

Nio shares have struggled this year, losing more than 42%.

European stocks opened higher Wednesday, with investors in the region looking ahead to the next meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB).

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.5% in early trade, with all sectors and major bourses in the green.

The U.K.’s FTSE index was up 0.3% at 8,258, Germany’s DAX up 0.5% at 18,494, France’s CAC 40 up 0.4% at 7,971 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 0.4% higher at 34,425.

— Shreyashi Sanyal, Lim Hui Jie

Australia’s economy grew 1.1% year on year in the first quarter, slowing from a revised fourth quarter growth figure of 1.6%.

The 1.1% growth also was slightly below a Reuters poll expectation of 1.2%. On a quarter on quarter basis, Australia’s GDP rose 0.1%, less than the 0.2% expected in the Reuters poll.

Katherine Keenan, head of national accounts at the Australian bureau of statistics noted that “GDP growth was weak in March, with the economy experiencing its lowest through the year growth since December 2020.”

— Lim Hui Jie

China’s services activity grew at the fastest pace in 10 months in May, according to a private survey.

The Caixin S&P Global services purchasing managers’ index rose to 54 from 52.5 in April, growing at the quickest pace since July 2023.

A PMI reading above the 50-mark separates expansion from contraction.

The survey also showed that incoming new work increased at the fastest pace since May 2023.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Real wages in Japan fell for a 25th straight month in April, potentially stifling the Bank of Japan’s plans to raise interest rates and realize its “virtuous cycle” of increasing wages and prices.

Government data showed that real wages fell 0.7%, a softer fall from the 2.1% loss in March. Nominal wages came in at 296,884 yen ($1,913.28), growing 2.1% year on year.

This accelerated from March’s nominal wage growth of 1%, posting its highest pace of growth in 10 months.

— Lim Hui Jie

Traders are awaiting data on private employers from the ADP due Wednesday morning for insights into the state of the labor market.

Economists polled by Dow Jones are anticipating that these employers increased their payrolls by 175,000 positions in May. That would mark a slowdown from the addition of 192,000 jobs in April.

— Alex Harring

These are some of the stocks making notable after-hours moves:

• CrowdStrike — The cybersecurity company popped around 7% after offering better-than-expected quarterly results and guidance. 
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise — The IT company added about 11% on the back of a stronger-than-anticipated financial report for the fiscal second quarter.

See the full list here.

— Alex Harring

Stock futures were near flat shortly after 6 p.m. ET.

Futures tied to the Dow added close to 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures both inched slightly above their flatlines.

— Alex Harring