As of the time of writing, the three major indexes showed mixed performance. $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ fell by 0.24%,$Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ rose by 0.44%, $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ rose by 0.03%.

The ADP private data released on Thursday showed that the number of new jobs added by American companies has fallen to its lowest level since 2021. Last month, the number of jobs added by American companies reached its lowest level since early 2021, further confirming that the labor market is slowing down.

According to data released by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, the US private sector added 0.099 million jobs in August, and the growth rate of the previous month was revised downward. The latest data is lower than the expectations of all economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The data released on Thursday showed that wage growth for job changers and those staying in their current positions remained unchanged from the previous month.

"After two years of extraordinary growth, the slowdown in the job market has led to recruitment rates below normal levels," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. "The next indicator to watch is wage growth, which is stabilizing after a sharp slowdown following the pandemic."

Companies, unwilling to directly lay off employees, are addressing high costs and high interest rates by reducing their hiring. The latest private sector employment data further confirms a slowdown in labor demand, which will help further curb inflationary pressures.

Federal Reserve officials have previously stated that they are now more concerned about the risks facing the labor market compared to inflation. Given that price pressures have significantly declined from the peak of the pandemic, it is expected that Federal Reserve policymakers will begin easing this month.

According to a report released by the Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday, US company hiring plans for August this year decreased by 41% compared to the same period in 2023. The number of announced layoffs decreased by 3.7%.

In addition, according to the US Department of Labor, for the week ending August 31, the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US was 0.227 million, slightly lower than the expected 0.23 million. The previous value was revised from 0.231 million to 0.232 million.

This week, the market is closely watching the August non-farm payroll data on Friday morning. In recent weeks, the market has been sensitive to the potential risk of a recession in the US economy. On Tuesday, US stocks plummeted due to weak manufacturing data, which caused recession fears and led to a sell-off of major stock indexes. This may strengthen investors' focus on the upcoming labor market data.

Federal Reserve Chair Daley said on Wednesday that the Fed now needs to cut interest rates to maintain a healthy labor market, and future economic data will determine the extent of the rate cut.

Traders also hope to evaluate whether the US economy is heading towards a soft landing based on data, as the Fed is preparing to ease monetary policy. Earlier this week, global stock markets experienced their most severe decline since August 5th, and the Cboe Volatility Index remains high at 20.

Barclays analyst Emmanuel Cau said, "Although recent data has been mixed, it hasn't collapsed. The global interest rate cycle should help the economy achieve a soft landing, extending the cycle until 2025."

He said that although the US economy is still expected to achieve a "soft landing," the market may continue to be volatile in the short term.

JPMorgan believes that although the Federal Reserve is about to start cutting interest rates, it is a big mistake to think that this will bring a new round of stock market rally.

JPMorgan strategist, led by Mislav Matejka, said in a research report that the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut is ultimately at least partially intended to counter the economic slowdown, which may offset the positive impact of the interest rate cut on the stock market.

JPMorgan strategists said, "The Federal Reserve will begin to loosen monetary policy, but it is more of a passive response to the economic growth slowdown, which may not be enough to drive the next round of stock market rally."

The strategist also added:"We have not yet emerged from the predicament, September is a month with seasonal challenges for the stock market."

Goldman Sachs Global Markets Director and Tactical Expert Scott Rubner warned that weak job data could trigger a market pullback. He said if the job data to be released on Friday performs poorly, the stock market may enter a pullback phase.

Focus stocks

Growth tech stocks generally rose, with Tesla up nearly 5%, Amazon up over 2%, and Nvidia up nearly 2%.

China concept stocks are mostly rising, with Nio Inc up nearly 6%, Xpeng up over 4%, and Bilibili up over 3%.

$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ Up nearly 2%, the company denies the reports of receiving subpoenas from the US Department of Justice regarding antitrust issues.

$Tesla (TSLA.US)$ Rising nearly 5%, planning to launch the FSD advanced driving assistance system in China and Europe in the first quarter of next year.

$NIO Inc (NIO.US)$ Rising over 6%, Q2 revenue increased by 98.9% year-on-year to 17.45 billion yuan, delivery volume increased by 143.9% year-on-year to 0.0574 million units, both reaching new highs.

$Amazon (AMZN.US)$ Rising over 2%, the United Kingdom is considering approving Amazon to provide satellite broadband services.

Editor/new