Markets today: a jobs-heavy week opens as oil and yields climb

US markets open Wednesday at the front of a week centered on the labor market. Private payrolls arrive this morning, the ISM services survey lands Thursday, and the government’s August employment report closes things out Friday. This morning’s ADP reading is the first of those signals, and none of today’s releases carry the high-importance billing attached to Thursday’s and Friday’s. The other move to watch came overnight in commodities and rates: oil prices and longer-dated Treasury yields pushed higher as tensions in the Middle East drew focus. Futures pointed lower before the open.

On the calendar today

The ADP private payrolls report leads. It tallies private-sector hiring and is compiled separately from the government’s monthly count. It is due at 8:15 a.m. ET, with a forecast of 47,000 jobs added after 44,000 the prior month. Factory orders for the prior month follow at 10:00 a.m. ET, with a forecast of 0.6% against a 0.3% decline. The weekly EIA figures on crude and gasoline inventories are out at 10:30 a.m. ET, a release that draws more attention than usual on a day when oil is on the move. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly 30-year rate reading landed earlier at 6.79%, barely changed from 6.78%.

Reporting today

Broadcom Inc. and Snowflake Inc. are both scheduled to report results today.

Backdrop

Stocks finished lower Tuesday. The selling reached across the major indexes. The S&P 500 closed at 7,631.47, down 0.71%. The Dow gave back 419 points to 52,766.88, a decline of 0.79%. The Nasdaq Composite took the hardest hit, falling 1.03% to 26,099.77. The Cboe Volatility Index sat at 16.34, a subdued level by historical standards, and the 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.75%.

The week ahead

The calendar thickens after today. Two high-importance reports arrive before the week ends in a market holiday.

• Thursday: the ISM services PMI at 10:00 a.m. ET, forecast at 54.3 after 54.1. lululemon athletica inc. reports.
• Friday: the August employment report at 8:30 a.m. ET, with nonfarm payrolls forecast at 58,000 following a decline of 23,000, and the unemployment rate seen holding at 4.1%.
• Monday: US markets are closed for Labor Day.

What to watch

• The ADP figure at 8:15 a.m. ET is the morning’s main event and the first hard read on hiring this week.
• Oil and Treasury yields. Both climbed overnight as Middle East tensions drew attention, and the later factory-orders and EIA inventory prints will land against that firmer energy backdrop. Higher yields lift borrowing costs across the economy, which is why a move in the bond market draws notice well beyond it.
• Company results, with Broadcom Inc. and Snowflake Inc. on the calendar for today.

This is a general-market summary for information only — not investment advice, and not a recommendation regarding any security.