US investors looking for direction – an eye on the labor market

Frankfurt Investors are reluctant to invest in Wall Street, probably due to uncertainty about the future pace of interest rate hikes by the Fed. The US blue chip index Dow Jones and the broader S&P 500 each fell about half a percent on Wednesday, to 30,120 and 3767 points respectively. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.2 percent.

Stock markets were briefly buoyed at the open by hopes of more cautious rate hikes from the Fed. Stockbrokers rated the initial applications for US unemployment benefits positively, which were slightly higher than expected.

However, the ADP jobs report released on Wednesday gave no indication of a possible easing of monetary policy and the Fed’s future strategy remains largely open until official US jobs data is released on Friday.