Stocks are rising as investors hope for a pause on rate increases

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were gaining on Wednesday despite weaker than expected economic data as investors looked toward Friday's job report for August.  

At 11:43 ET (15:43 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 63 points or 0.2% while the S&P 500 was up 0.4% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.6%.

Wall Street’s main indices closed with strong gains Tuesday, the third consecutive winning session, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rising over almost 300 points, or 0.9%, while the broad-based S&P 500 climbed 1.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite 1.7%.

ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) private payrolls confirm loosening labor market

On Tuesday, data showed employers reported fewer than expected job openings, a sign that there might be some loosening in the tight labor market. 

This boosted the hopes of investors that the Federal Reserve will end its rate-hiking cycle as soon as its next meeting in September, as economic growth slows and inflation is reined in.

The widely-watched official jobs report for August is due out on Friday, but ahead of it was the ADP private payrolls report, which showed employers added a fewer than expected 177,000 jobs in August. In July, the ADP report said 312,000 jobs were added.

Additionally, the second reading of the latest GDP data showed the economy grew at a slower than expected 2.1% pace from the first quarter. Analysts had expected a gain of 2.4% in the second quarter.

German inflation proving sticky 

The economic news out of Europe, a major trading region for the biggest U.S. companies, was pretty dire Wednesday.

Inflation rose in four of six key German states in August, casting doubt on a continuation of a national downward trend in the eurozone’s most important economy, and increasing the pressure on the European Central Bank to continue hiking interest rates.

At the same time, eurozone economic sentiment was weaker than expected in August, continuing a steady decline since the start of the year.

HP slips on slowing PC demand 

On the earnings front, Jack Daniel's whiskey owner Brown Forman (NYSE:BFb), as well as tech firms Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) and Crowdstrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) are scheduled to report their latest quarterly reports on Wednesday. Brown Forman missed expectations on revenue and earnings.

Elsewhere, HP (NYSE:HPQ) stock slumped 7.9% as the personal computer maker trimmed its annual forecast due to slowing demand.

Crude gains after massive U.S. inventory draw

Oil prices rose Wednesday, extending recent gains after industry data pointed to a hefty draw in U.S. crude stockpiles, adding to concerns about a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute, released late Tuesday, showed that crude stocks fell by over 11 million barrels last week, suggesting healthy demand ahead of the Labor Day holiday that usually marks peak summer demand. 

The official data from the Energy Information Administration is due later in the session, for confirmation. 

Additionally, Hurricane Idalia weakened to a category 1 hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday, after it slammed into Florida, disrupting production in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The offshore Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 15% of U.S. oil output and about 5% of natural gas production, according to the Energy Information Administration.

(Peter Nurse and Oliver Gray contributed to this item.)