Equities climbed again on Wednesday with the S&P 500 gaining roughly 1.0% at the high of the session. The move comes despite a much weaker than expected labor market report from ADP that shows a loss of 300,000 jobs in January versus the expected gain of 150,000 new jobs and raises serious questions about the economy. Labor markets are strong and demand for employees is high but if those jobs aren't filled the U.S. economy will have little hope of producing true economic expansion. As it is now, what expansion we have is more to do with inflation than anything else.
Now, all eyes are on the NFP report due out on Friday. The report was expected to show a slowdown in hiring before the ADP report came out, now the analysts are rethinking their estimates with the expectation job creation will be slower than first thought. A weak figure will not set a trend but it will create another brick for the wall of worry.