By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets opened higher on Wednesday after signs that the labor market may have held up better than expected over the last two months, along with another dribble of encouraging test data from biotech companies researching cures for Covid-19.
Payrolls processor ADP’s monthly update on private-sector job creation fell well short of expectations at 2.369 million, but the number for May was revised sharply upwards to a net gain of 3.065 million, from an initial estimate that 2.76 million jobs had been lost.
The mood was lifted further by the release of the Institute of Supply Management's monthly manufacturing survey. ISM's main index rose to 52.6, above the 50 level that typically represents growth, from 43.1 in May. That suggests that output had stopped falling by the end of the quarter.
Elsewhere, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and its German partner Biontech announced positive early-stage results in tests of its experimental drug aimed at treating the Covid-19 virus. Pfizer stock rose 3.8% while Biontech stock rose 4.8%.
By 10:22 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen 107 points, or 0.4%, to 25,920. The S&P 500 was up 0.48% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.44%. Futures for all three had been in negative territory overnight.
Standout performers in early trading included FedEx (NYSE:FDX) stock, which rose 16% after the company posted strong fiscal fourth-quarter numbers, helped by a surge in online buying amid the coronavirus pandemic, and Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) stock, which rose over 11% after the meat substitute company signed a partnership with Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) (NYSE:BABA) to make its plant-based Beyond Burger available in 50 Freshippo stores in Shanghai, starting this weekend. That's a welcome piece of upbeat news after McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) deflated hopes of a major distribution deal in the U.S. after a disappointing test run of its products in Canada.
Elsewhere, Macy's (NYSE:M) stock rose 2.0%, supported by the macro backdrop after reporting a whopping $3.58 billion loss for its fiscal first quarter and warning that it doesn't expect any significant recovery in the immediate future. The news, which had been expected, was taken as a step toward fundamentally "resetting" the business for the time after the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) powered another 2.9% higher to a new record high, on little news flow other than the excitement generated by overtaking Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) in terms of market capitalization.