Jan 7 (Reuters) – Futures linked to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq inched lower on Wednesday, as investors took a pause after the S&P 500 and the Dow hit record highs in the previous session, while caution also set in ahead of some labor market data due later in the day.
Wall Street ended higher on Tuesday as renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence-linked stocks boosted chipmakers, while healthcare companies soared, pushing the S&P 500 to a record close.
Chip stocks, among the biggest beneficiaries of Tuesday’s rally, edged marginally lower in premarket trading on Wednesday, with Nvidia down 0.1%.
Memory chipmakers, which had surged on the prospect of chip shortages leading to price increases, also stabilized. SanDisk and Micron Technology fell 2% and 1.9% after climbing 27.5% and 10%, respectively, on Tuesday.
The benchmark S&P 500 is now 0.8% away from the 7,000 mark, and the Dow is about 1% away from a historic 50,000.
At 05:45 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 20 points, or 0.04%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 10.75 points, or 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 89.5 points, or 0.35%.
Investors’ attention will be focused on labor market data. Private payrolls for December are due at 8:15 a.m. ET, and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for November are expected after markets open.
The datasets will be precursors to the crucial nonfarm payrolls due on Friday, as investors look forward to reliable data following the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown in history late in 2025.
“A weakening labor market has been a key factor behind the Fed’s willingness to look past inflation risks… further weakness would support rate-cut expectations, while stronger-than-expected figures could quickly revive the hawks,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
“But the inflation leg of US data remains blurred as recent releases… failed to provide a clear signal on underlying price dynamics. Should inflation unexpectedly re-accelerate, rate-cut expectations could be rapidly repriced.”
Wall Street’s three main indexes look to have started 2026 on a positive note so far, after marking their third consecutive year of double-digit gains in 2025.
Markets will also keep an eye on geopolitical developments, including developments in Venezuela and the use of the country’s oil resources, following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend.
The White House also said on Tuesday that Trump is discussing options for acquiring Greenland, including potential use of the U.S. military.
Among stocks, Strategy rose 3.6% before the bell after MSCI dropped a plan to exclude the bitcoin hoarder and other crypto treasury firms from its indexes.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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