JBizNews Desk
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Wall Street opened in mixed fashion Wednesday, June 3, after two fresh reads on the economy showed steady hiring and a strengthening service sector, even as oil pushed back toward $100 a barrel following an overnight exchange of fire between the United States and Iran. The ADP National Employment Report, released Wednesday, said private employers added 122,000 jobs in May, topping the 117,000 economists expected, while the Institute for Supply Management reported its Services PMI rose to 54.5% from 53.6% a month earlier, the 23rd straight month of growth, according to committee chair Steve Miller. At the opening bell, the S&P 500 slipped 0.14% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.56%, while the Nasdaq was virtually flat and the small-cap Russell 2000 rose 0.90%. The moves came a day after all three major indexes closed at records, with the S&P 500 posting its first finish above 7,600 at 7,609.78.
The data carried a catch for anyone hoping for lower interest rates. The same ISM report that showed services expanding also put its prices gauge at 71.3%, near a multi-year high, a sign that companies are still paying more for fuel, materials and labor and passing those costs along. The employment piece of that survey stayed below 50, meaning service businesses are still trimming staff even as orders pick up. April’s ADP gain, meanwhile, was revised down to 105,000.
Energy set the tense backdrop. Brent crude climbed toward $97 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate rose above $93, both gaining for a third straight session, after U.S. Central Command said Iran fired ballistic missiles toward neighboring states and U.S. forces carried out strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island. Iran’s missiles hit Kuwait and Bahrain, killing one person in Kuwait, according to Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry. Adding fuel, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday that domestic crude inventories fell by 7.974 million barrels last week, far more than the roughly 2.9 million-barrel draw forecast and the sixth straight weekly decline. President Donald Trump said Iran had agreed not to pursue a nuclear weapon and that talks continue, though Iranian state media disputed that.
The day’s hardest hits landed on the private-equity group. Blackstone dropped about 6%, KKR fell more than 5.5% and Blue Owl Capital lost nearly 4% after Bloomberg News reported that Swiss firm Partners Group had capped withdrawals from one of its private-equity funds, a move that rattled investors holding similar managers. GitLab fell roughly 4% after the software maker guided to adjusted earnings of 17 to 18 cents a share, below the 19 cents analysts expected, and flagged $30 million to $35 million in restructuring charges. Palo Alto Networks slipped about 2% even after beating, posting adjusted earnings of 85 cents a share on $3 billion in revenue, ahead of the 80 cents and $2.94 billion expected, and lifting its full-year revenue forecast.
The chip trade still had momentum. Marvell Technology rose more than 13%, building on a 32% surge Tuesday that ranked as its best day ever after Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang suggested the company could one day reach a trillion-dollar valuation. In retail, Macy’s gained about 1.5% after reporting its strongest first-quarter sales growth in four years, with revenue of $4.68 billion beating the $4.61 billion estimate and a raised full-year outlook. Cboe Global Markets rose about 1.5%, steadying after a three-day slide of nearly 20% tied to worries that newly proposed perpetual futures could eat into traditional exchanges. Ulta Beauty dipped about 1% despite a quarterly beat and a bigger $1.5 billion buyback target.
On the analyst side, Loop Capital raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise to Buy from Hold after Tuesday’s blowout quarter, in which cloud and AI revenue climbed 22.9% from a year earlier and the stock jumped about 26%. Upgrade activity this month has clustered in chip and AI infrastructure names, while several previously cautious analysts have warmed to Intel after a sharp run higher.
The day is not over. Broadcom and CrowdStrike are scheduled to report results after the closing bell, two readings that will test whether the AI-spending boom still has room to run. The bigger event comes Friday, when the Labor Department releases the May jobs report, the broadest look yet at whether hiring is holding up as oil prices climb. Beyond that, new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh holds his first rate-setting meeting on June 16–17, with markets caught between a growing economy and a war that keeps pushing energy costs higher.
Wall Street — JBizNews Desk
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