By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets marched to new three-month highs in early trade on Wednesday after what was arguably the first big positive surprise from U.S. economic data since the explosion of the Covid-19 pandemic in March.
Payrolls processor ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) reported that a net 2.76 million private-sector workers lost their jobs in the month to mid-May, that was much better than the 9 million number expected. The data arguably augur well for the official labor market report on Friday, although neither report is as up-to-date as the weekly jobless claims numbers that will be published on Thursday.
By 10 AM ET (1400 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 253 points, or 1.0%, at 25,995, while the S&P 500 was up 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.5%.
The news encouraged those who have been shifting money back into cyclical and 'value' stocks since the first signs of a bottoming out began to emerge. Airline and banking stocks tended to outperform again, with Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) stock rising 4.0% and United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) stock rising .4.8%, while JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) stock rose 3.5% and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) stock rose 5.0%.
Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:ZM) stock surged another 3.9% to a new record high after the maker of videoconferencing software posted better-than-expected quarterly results after the closing bell on Thursday. The company's earnings per share of 20c were more than double expectations, while revenue rose 169% and the numbers of premium and paying subscribers both topped forecasts.
Among the losers was Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) stock, which fell 0.9% after the company took down various accounts linked to white supremacists and right-wing provocateurs masquerading as 'antifa' affiliates. The move came after internal pressure on CEO Mark Zuckerberg to moderate the site's content more proactively - a step that may bring it into conflict with an administration that has accused social media of left-wing bias in recent days.
Money also flowed out of various stocks that had been seen as either profiting from or immune to the effects of the pandemic. Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) stock fell 0.2%, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell 0.1% and streaming device maker Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) stock fell 1.8%.
In other markets, crude oil prices eased after hitting a new three-month high on hopes for an extended period of output restraint by major exporters. By 10 AM ET (1400 GMT), U.S. crude futures were up 0.3% at $36.92 a barrel, amid reports that Saudi Arabia and Russia had agreed to extend the current deal by only one month instead of the three months that oil bulls had hoped for.