Nasdaq Stock futures experienced a modest increase on Wednesday in anticipation of the forthcoming U.S. employment report for January, which is projected to shed light on the labor market amidst the prevailing uncertainty regarding the economy’s direction. Recent trading saw the Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and S&P 500 futures each increase by 0.1%. Investors are expected to closely monitor the jobs report, originally scheduled for release last Friday, which has been postponed by five days due to a partial government shutdown. Analysts anticipate that U.S. employers created 55,000 jobs in January, an increase from 50,000 in December, while the unemployment rate is projected to hold steady at 4.4%, which is considered low by historical benchmarks.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences interest rates across a range of consumer loans, including mortgages, stood below 4.14% prior to the data release. The yield declined by over 6 basis points on Tuesday, finishing below 4.15% following an unexpected flat reading for December U.S. retail sales. Yesterday, the blue-chip Dow increased by 0.1%, achieving its third consecutive closing record alongside its latest intraday high. Nevertheless, it was the sole significant index to conclude the day in positive territory, while the technology-focused Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 finished lower by 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively, breaking their two-session winning streaks. S&P Global and Raymond James Financial led the S&P 500 decliners Tuesday with drops of nearly 10% and 9%, respectively, as concerns regarding AI impacted financial stocks, particularly wealth-management firms. Recent announcements from companies developing AI applications have significantly impacted stock valuations in those sectors. Both firms experienced a rebound of over 1% in premarket trading.

Every Magnificent Seven stock concluded the day in the red yesterday, with the exception of Tesla, which saw an increase of nearly 2%. The performance of the companies’ shares exhibited a mixed trend prior to the market opening on Wednesday, with none registering a movement exceeding 0.5% in either direction. In significant post-earnings developments, shares of Mattel experienced a decline of 27%, Lyft saw a decrease of 17%, Moderna faced a drop of 10%, Robinhood Markets retreated by 8%, Humana fell by 6.5%, and Kraft Heinz recorded a decline of 7%. Meanwhile, Cloudflare soared 15%, Hinge Health popped 11%, Ford Motor gained 1.5%, and Hilton Worldwide Holdings ticked higher. McDonald’s, T-Mobile US, and Shopify were among big names slated to report results before the bell.

Bitcoin was trading near $66,700, a decline from overnight highs of approximately $69,200. The U.S. dollar index, which monitors the value of the greenback relative to a selection of global currencies, declined by 0.2% to 96.57. Gold futures increased by 1.3%, reaching $5,095 per ounce, whereas silver futures experienced a notable surge of over 5%, climbing to $84.65 per ounce. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. benchmark, experienced an increase of 1.4%, reaching a price of $64.85 per barrel.