U.S. stocks were sinking after stronger-than-expected ADP jobs report

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks sinking after an unexpectedly strong private payrolls report for June stoked new worries about interest rates.

At 11:20 ET (15:20 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 503 points or 1.5%, while the S&P 500 was down 1.4% and the NASDAQ Composite fell 1.6%.

Fed expected to raise rates in July

Wall Street fell on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its June meeting, where policymakers agreed that more rate hikes are likely as the central bank works to cool inflation.

Futures markets are betting on a quarter of a percentage point hike in July and then again in November. Any moves higher would come after the Fed paused on rate hikes in June to assess how much impact their 10 consecutive hikes have had to this point.

Economic data due this week include jobless claims, job openings, and private payrolls data, heading into Friday’s job report for June. ADP’s private payroll reading was 497,000 jobs created in June, well above expectations for 228,000. Jobless claims for last week came in slightly higher than expected. Job openings of 9.8 million at the end of May were slightly lower than expected.

A strong jobs report could encourage the Fed to continue raising rates.

Meta jumps after it releases Twitter rival app

The prospect of the Fed ending its tightening phase had pushed tech stocks higher to start the year, with the Nasdaq rising 32% for the first half of 2023.

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) dipped 0.2% after the Facebook and Instagram parent launched its competitor to Twitter late Thursday, but hit a new 52-week high in early trading.

Chip stocks under pressure as Yellen visits China

Shares of chipmakers were in focus as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrives in Beijing for a weekend of meetings with officials there as tensions continue to rise between the U.S. and China over technology and other issues.

Shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) were under pressure, falling 3% and 2.4%, respectively.

Shares of JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) were down 6.4% after it said it would end an alliance with American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) and focus on its purchase of Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE).