Wall Street set for small decline as traders await ADP jobs numbers

The main indices on Wall Street are set for a slight slip at the opening bell on Wednesday as investors await the latest batch of ADP jobs figures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to slide 44 points or 0.16% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite - which both hit new peaks on Tuesday - are also marginally lower, down 0.1% and 0.03% respectively. But so far this year the S&P is up 14% and the Dow and Nasdaq 12%, as investors shrugged off inflationary worries and concentrated on signs of the economy emerging stronger from the pandemic. In terms of this week's data, Friday sees the main course as far as investors are concerned, with the non-farm payroll numbers for June. But today we get the hors d'oevres in the form of the ADP private payroll survey. This is expected to show some 550,000 to 600,000 new jobs were added this month, after the massive 978,000 figure in May. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said: "Generally, ADP data acts as a practice release before Friday’s jobs data. In theory, there is not much correlation between the two prints, but the ADP read still puts investors in the jobs data mood. "The expectation is that the US economy added some 555,000 new private jobs in June, but the predictions should be taken with a pinch of salt, as last month, the expectation was some  650,000 job additions and we ended up with a number close to a million. Today, we need a strong number to keep the mood upbeat among investors. Any softness in jobs figures, on the other hand, could hardly get the Fed more accommodative with inflation hovering around the 5%, and with potentially an increased period of supply shortages and slow logistics.  "Therefore, the jobs figure for June in the US better be good. Otherwise, we shall see some selloff starting from today, following the ADP figure." Four things to watch for on Wednesday: Firms in the earnings diary today include computer storage and memory specialist Micro Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) and Corona beer owner Constellation Brands Inc (NYSE:STZ) as well as Cheerios and Cocoa Puffs maker General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) Shares in Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi will also be making their debut this morning at US$14 per share as the firm looks to raise US$4bn through its IPO In other IPO news, plus-size women’s clothing maker Torrid will be in focus after the company raised the number of shares on offer to 10mln from 8mln previously On the macro front, the ADP jobs numbers will be the headline, however some traders may be interest in US home sales data as well as the latest Chicago PMI