S&P 500 poised for record open as focus turns

The S&P 500 looked set to scale a new peak on Wednesday as weaker-than-expected private payrolls data fueled hopes for an extended support from the US central bank.

Energy stocks led premarket gains, with oil majors Chevron Corp (CVX.N), Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Schlumberger NV (SLB.N)and Halliburton (HAL.N) rising between 0.4per cent and 0.7 per cent as crude prices gained ahead of an OPEC+ meeting.

Rate-sensitive banks also climbed on cues from higher bond yields. J.P.Morgan (JPM.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Citigroup (C.N)and Wells Fargo (WFC.N) were up about 0.5 per cent.

Wall Street's main indexes have hit record highs recently, with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) notching a solid 2.9per cent rise in August as investors shrugged off risks around a rise in new coronavirus infections and hoped for the Federal Reserve to remain dovish in its policy stance.

The ADP report, published ahead of the government's more comprehensive employment report on Friday, showed US private employers hired far fewer workers than expected in August.

Private payrolls increased by 374,000 last month, a huge miss versus a forecast of 613,000.

"If we see employment slowing on Friday, the Fed is most likely to not hint at any tapering until jobs are back on track," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.

"The trend remains to be quite favorable with the US markets being among the top 10 performers year-to-date until August."

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has suggested that an improving labor market will be a main factor affecting the decision for a tapering of its massive asset purchases.