MARKET WRAPS
STOCKS: Stocks rose as strong jobs and services-sector data offset fears about a widening war in the Middle East.
TREASURYS: Treasury yields rose after strong private-sector jobs data.
FOREX: The U.S. dollar slipped against rivals amid diminished safe-haven demand.
COMMODITIES: Oil added to its recent gains as the conflict continued to rage in the Middle East.
HEADLINES
Private-Sector Hiring Solid Last Month, ADP Data Show
Job growth in the private sector held up well in February, data from human-resources firm ADP suggest.
ADP's monthly report on business payrolls showed that the economy added 63,000 jobs last month, versus the revised 11,000 seen in ADP's January data. Analysts were expecting 48,000 new private-sector jobs in ADP's report, according to The Wall Street Journal's survey.
ADP's figures are based on job-creation data gleaned from the millions of businesses that farm out their payroll operations to the Roseland, N.J.-based company. The update lands two days before the federal government's official February jobs report, which draws on separate government surveys and covers the full economy, including public-sector employment.
U.S. Services-Sector Activity Continued to Rise in February
U.S. services-sector activity continued to rise in February, with all four subindexes being in expansion territory for the third month in a row, a monthly survey said.
The Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers index for services providers was 56.1 in February compared with 53.8 in January. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected a reading of 53.5. A reading above 50 suggests economic growth, while one below 50 indicates contraction.
"The services sector is heating up with business activity, new orders and new export orders indexes at their highest levels since 2024, and the backlog of orders index with its best reading since July 2022," said Steve Miller, chair of the ISM.
Fed's Beige Book Sees a Stable Economy Still Facing Challenges
Early 2026 data have painted an economy on steady footing at the start of the year-but with risks from stubborn inflation, a job market that has slowed and heightened uncertainty about economic policy.
Most of those themes were on full display in the latest edition of the Beige Book, a hefty collection of nationwide economic anecdotes published by the Federal Reserve before each central-bank policy meeting. The Fed publishes the information without naming the businesses, to promote candor.
The new edition-published Wednesday, ahead of the March 18 Fed decision-draws on surveys done by the Fed's 12 regional reserve banks through Feb. 23-so it mostly doesn't reflect some of the latest developments, such as the Supreme Court's ruling overturning some of President Trump's tariffs, which came on Feb. 20, or the even more recent conflict in the Middle East.
Ford Posts Lower U.S. Sales in February on Declines in Electric, Hybrid Vehicles
Ford Motor's U.S. vehicle sales fell in February, hurt by declines for its electric and hybrid vehicles.
The Dearborn, Mich., carmaker said Wednesday it sold a total of 149,962 vehicles in the U.S. last month, down 5.5% from the prior-year period.
EV sales slid 71% to 2,122 and hybrid-vehicle sales fell by 22% to 12,010. Internal-combustion cars, meanwhile, ticked down 0.1% to 135,830.
Apple Uses Low Prices to Attack Rivals During Memory-Chip Crunch
Spiking memory prices will devastate the electronics market this year, analysts say. Apple's pricing strategy for its newest devices suggests it wants to exploit others' pain for its own global market-share gains.
When the company on Monday announced its new entry-level iPhone, the 17e, it set the starting price at $599, the same as last year's model. And on Wednesday it announced the entry-level MacBook Neo laptop at $599, a lower price than some analysts had expected. The low prices come despite the rising cost of memory and storage inside the devices, which could eat into Apple's profit.
Yet those cost increases are likely to be far more painful for rival device makers. Chinese phone makers that sell midrange smartphones might be forced to raise prices. Customers who previously avoided higher-priced Apple devices in favor of cheaper options will have a better reason to switch.
Brown-Forman Says Sales in Developed Markets Still Falling
Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman said sales in its developed markets were continuing to decline due to a number of macroeconomic pressures, some of which could persist.
In the U.S., weak consumer sentiment is hurting discretionary spending, while in Europe, economic conditions and excise taxes are dragging down consumer spending and trends in distilled spirits.
The company also is seeing massive sales declines in Canada, where provinces stopped placing orders for American-made spirits after President Trump started a spate of trade battles with Canada last year.
Abercrombie Expects Slower Sales Growth, Tariff Headwinds in 2026
Abercrombie & Fitch expects sales growth to slow this year and cautioned that tariffs could weigh on profitability in the near term.
The clothing company on Wednesday forecast sales to climb 3% to 5% in 2026. The outlook marks a slowdown from the 6.2% increase in sales that Abercrombie logged last year, though it is in line with the 4.2% gain that Wall Street modeled, according to FactSet.
Abercrombie additionally guided for operating margins of 12% to 12.5%, which includes a roughly $40 million incremental tariff impact. The company said one of its goals over the coming year is to stabilize margins by mitigating as much of the levies as possible.
Bath & Body Works Says Strategy Shift Making Progress But 'Will Take Time'
Bath & Body Works reported a lower fourth-quarter profit and added that its strategy overhaul was delivering improvements but would take time to return the business to sales growth.
"We are making progress, but transformations of this scale take time," said Chief Executive Daniel Heaf. "We are undertaking a comprehensive, end-to-end evolution of our business-building a Bath & Body Works that is more innovative, more relevant, and easier to shop," he added.
In November, the company slashed its profit outlook and unveiled a strategy shift to return to sales growth. It said it had previously neglected its most popular product categories to pursue sales in new areas and said it would exit some of those new categories, such as hair care and men's grooming, and develop new offerings in core categories.
TALKING POINT Iran Conflict Spurs Rebound in U.S. Borrowing Costs
The U.S.-Israeli attacks against Iran have halted a weekslong rally in U.S. government bonds, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury note back above 4% and threatening higher borrowing costs for businesses and consumers.
The fight has sparked turbulence in stocks, a development that might normally cause investors to seek safety in bonds. But it has also fueled a jump in energy prices. And for now, that has been more important for investors, raising fears of a resurgence in inflation that drags on debt prices.
Treasury yields, which rise when bond prices fall, logged their biggest one-day gain since last June on Monday. They then rose again Tuesday, pushing the yield on the 10-year note as high as 4.1%.
The move is disappointing to many, coming just as yields appeared poised to break through the bottom of their recent trading range. The yield on the 10-year note plays a huge role in determining borrowing costs across the economy, and its decline in February had helped pull down 30-year mortgage rates below 6% for the first time in more than three years.
Treasurys had also just started to work well as a protection against stock volatility, after often failing to do so in recent years as inflation worries diminished their appeal as a haven.
Now, again, "you're seeing more of that prolonged inflation impact and less of your typical risk-off flow," said Zach Griffiths, head of investment-grade and macro strategy at the research firm CreditSights.
--Sam Goldfarb
Expected Major Events for Thursday
02:00/JPN: Feb Imported Vehicle Sales
06:00/JPN: Jan Revised Machine Tool Orders
07:45/FRA: Jan Industrial production index
09:00/UK: Feb UK monthly car registrations figures
09:00/ITA: Jan Retail Sales
09:30/UK: Feb S&P Global UK Construction PMI
12:30/US: Feb Challenger Job-Cut Report
13:00/RUS: Weekly International Reserves
13:30/US: 4Q Preliminary Productivity and Costs
13:30/US: Jan Import & Export Price Indexes
13:30/US: 02/28 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims
13:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales
13:30/CAN: Mar Intentions of principal field crop areas
15:30/US: 02/27 EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report
16:00/US: Feb Global Services PMI
17:00/US: Feb Monthly U.S. Retail Chain Store Sales Index
21:30/US: Foreign Central Bank Holdings
21:30/US: Federal Discount Window Borrowings
23:50/JPN: Feb International Reserves / Foreign Currency
23:50/JPN: Feb Provisional Trade Statistics for 1st 20 days of Month
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Thursday
Acorn Energy Inc (ACFN) is expected to report for 4Q.
Algoma Central Corp (ALC.T) is expected to report for 4Q.
Aligos Therapeutics Inc $(ALGS)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
Altimmune $(ALT)$ is expected to report $-0.23 for 4Q.
Amprius Technologies Inc $(AMPX)$ is expected to report $-0.04 for 4Q.
BJ's Wholesale Club Holding Inc $(BJ)$ is expected to report $0.91 for 4Q.
Bioventus Inc $(BVS)$ is expected to report $0.12 for 4Q.
Burlington Stores Inc $(BURL)$ is expected to report $4.75 for 4Q.
CPI Card Group Inc (PMTS,PMTS-T) is expected to report $0.54 for 4Q.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ,CNQ.T) is expected to report $0.45 for 4Q.
Ciena Corp $(CIEN)$ is expected to report $0.60 for 1Q.
CorMedix Inc $(CRMD)$ is expected to report $0.67 for 4Q.
Distribution Solutions Group Inc $(DSGR)$ is expected to report $0.19 for 4Q.
Endeavour Mining PLC (EDV.T,EDVMF) is expected to report for 4Q.
Fastenal Co $(FAST)$ is expected to report.
Global Water Resources Inc (GWR-T,GWRS) is expected to report $0.03 for 4Q.
GoPro Inc $(GPRO)$ is expected to report $-0.36 for 4Q.
Invivyd Inc $(IVVD)$ is expected to report $-0.08 for 4Q.
Ituran Location & Control Ltd (ITRN,ITRN-TV) is expected to report for 4Q.
John Wiley & Sons Inc - A Share $(WLY)$ is expected to report $0.67 for 3Q.
Kroger Co $(KR)$ is expected to report $1.20 for 4Q.
Kura Oncology Inc (KURA) is expected to report $-0.64 for 4Q.
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc $(LXRX)$ is expected to report $-0.07 for 4Q.
Lightwave Logic Inc (LWLG) is expected to report for 4Q.
Liquidia Corp $(LQDA)$ is expected to report $0.18 for 4Q.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc (MFI.T,MLFNF) is expected to report for 4Q.
Methanex Corp (MEOH,MX.T) is expected to report $0.89 for 4Q.
Myers Industries Inc (MYE) is expected to report $0.23 for 4Q.
Olaplex Holdings Inc $(OLPX)$ is expected to report $-0.02 for 4Q.
Palladyne AI Corp $(PDYN)$ is expected to report for 4Q.
REGENXBIO Inc $(RGNX)$ is expected to report $0.16 for 4Q.
Ranger Energy Services Inc $(RNGR)$ is expected to report $0.10 for 4Q.
Ranpak Holdings Corp (PACK) is expected to report $-0.03 for 4Q.
Spin Master Corp (TOY.T) is expected to report $0.07 for 4Q.
Stratasys Ltd (SSYS) is expected to report $-0.23 for 4Q.
Tango Therapeutics Inc $(TNGX)$ is expected to report $-0.30 for 4Q.
Teads Holding Co (TEAD) is expected to report $-0.10 for 4Q.
Tejon Ranch Co (TRC) is expected to report for 4Q.
Toro Co $(TTC)$ is expected to report $0.63 for 1Q.
Victoria's Secret & Co $(VSCO)$ is expected to report $2.49 for 4Q.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 04, 2026 16:34 ET (21:34 GMT)
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