US stocks dip after jobs data & economic emergency report, quantum-computing shares tumble on Nvidia CEO remarks

Wall Street today:  US stock indices declined on Wednesday after softer-than-expected jobs data and a media report that said President-elect Donald Trump was mulling a national economic emergency declaration.

An ADP National Employment report showed the US added 122,000 jobs in the private sector in December 2024. 

A separate Labor Department report showed jobless claims for the previous week fell.

At 9:52 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 117.37 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 42,410.99, the S&P 500 lost 6.27 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 5,902.76 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 9.11 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 19,480.57.

At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13.7 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 42,542.1. The S&P 500 rose 1.6 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 5,910.66, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 20.3 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 19,469.365. 

Among the megacaps, Nvidia rose 1.8 per cent, Meta Platforms fell 0.7 per cent, and Alphabet was flat.

Quantum-computing stocks such as Rigetti Computing tumbled 41.5 per cent, IonQ shed 36.5 per cent and Quantum Computing lost 40.6 per cent after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that computers based on the emerging technology are as much as 30 years away.

Advanced Micro Devices stock declined 3.8 per cent after brokerage HSBC downgraded the stock to “reduce” from “buy”.

Investors also assessed comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Wednesday at an event in Paris.

Waller said he still expects the central bank to deliver more easing of rates in 2025.

He also said he doesn’t expect tariffs that are possibly coming under President-elect Donald Trump to have a “significant or persistent effect” on inflation.

In the bond market, the yield on the 2-year Treasury edged down to 4.28 per cent, down from 4.29 per cent late on Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.71 per cent from 4.69 per cent.

Bullion

Gold prices rose on Wednesday after a weaker than expected private jobs data. 

Spot gold rose 0.5 per cent to $2,663.79 per ounce, as of 9:55 am ET (1455 GMT). US gold futures gained 0.5 per cent to $2,679.70.

Spot silver added 0.7 per cent to $30.20 per ounce.

Crude oil

Oil prices trimmed earlier gains on Wednesday as the US dollar strengthened.

Brent crude was up 21 cents, or 0.27 per cent, at $77.26 a barrel at 1424 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 27 cents, or 0.36 per cent, to $74.52.