MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks settled higher. Treasury yields declined as a global bonds selloff eased a bit, even while its key drivers remained in place. Oil futures rose, keeping inflation fears alive. The dollar weakened, while gold and silver rose.

MARKET WRAPS EQUITIES

U.S. stocks rose as a rally in Treasury yields stalled but equity and bond moves were muted as oil prices continued climbing due to clashes between Iran and the U.S.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%. The S&P 500 added 0.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5%.

Private companies added 38,000 employees to payrolls in August, a slowdown from July and fewer than economists had anticipated, according to the latest survey from ADP. That was the most meager private payroll growth since January, and foreshadowed potential weakness in the Labor Department's report on Friday.

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams, who has been a leading advocate of the central bank's "hold and wait" strategy on interest rates, hinted he could support a rate hike in an appearance on CNBC.

Equities in Asia largely fell earlier Wednesday, with South Korea's Kospi sliding 4% as chip makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix lost 4% and 4.7%, respectively.

In China, the Shanghai Composite ended 1.0% lower. The Shenzhen Composite fell 1.5% and the ChiNext Price Index declined 2.4%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index also fell, settling 0.1% lower.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed 2.9% lower on broad-based selling.

Stocks in Australia slipped, as the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index fell 1.0%.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 1.0%.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures rose for a third straight session as strikes between the U.S. and Iran raised concerns about further escalation and oil flows out of the Persian Gulf.

The EIA reported a bigger-than-expected 4.5 million barrel draw in U.S. commercial crude oil stocks for last week, while the Department of Energy released another 3.1 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The withdrawal "keeps attention on the increasingly tight market dynamics," says David Russell of TradeStation.

Diesel stocks are at the lowest on record for the time of year as farmers and truckers enter their high-demand season, he added. "Supply and demand fundamentals are taking over as government intervention loses effect and the SPR reaches critical levels."

WTI settled up 0.9% at $91.01 a barrel and Brent rose 1% to $95.63.

Gold futures snapped a three-session losing streak as Treasury yields eased.

The market is closely watching for Friday's employment report, where a strong jobs showing could add to Fed rate-hike expectations. ADP reported a smaller-than-expected 38,000 increase in private-sector jobs in August.

"Softer data can ease the downside risk, while stronger figures or more hawkish Fed comments may trigger additional weakness," Konstantinos Chrysikos of Kudo.com said in a note.

Front month gold rose 0.4% to $4,366.30 a troy ounce. Silver edged up 0.2% to $64.723 a troy ounce.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Private-Sector Hiring Slowed in August

Hiring by private-sector employers saw softer growth last month, according to human-resources company ADP.

Private companies added a net 38,000 jobs in August, after adding a revised 46,000 jobs in July, ADP said. August saw the slowest pace of job creation since January.

Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected to see 47,000 new private-sector jobs added.

Bank of Canada Keeps Rate Steady as Inflation Worries Intensify

OTTAWA-The Bank of Canada left its main interest rate unchanged at 2.25% and adopted a more alarmed tone about the upside risks to inflation amid new cross-border tariffs and no imminent end to the war in the Middle East.

Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem said Wednesday that a sharp deterioration in U.S.-Canada commercial ties does pose challenges for the economy, and risks stifling a nascent recovery that suggested businesses are learning to live with heightened trade-policy uncertainty.

Fresh U.S. tariffs and retaliatory duties from Canada could increase costs to consumers and pose a drag on growth in the fourth quarter, he said.

U.S. Government Backs OpenAI in Copyright Fight With Publishers

The U.S. government has filed a statement in support of OpenAI in its legal battle with the New York Times and other publishers, arguing that training on news content is within the bounds of "fair use" under U.S. copyright law.

Making it more difficult for large language models to train on copyrighted content would be "inconsistent with basic copyright law principles" and thwart creative and scientific progress, according to a letter submitted by Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. and Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate from the Justice Department.

Fair use is a doctrine that allows for copyright material to be used without permission in certain circumstances.

Google Avoids Breakup of Dominant Ad Tech Business

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Justice Department's request to dismantle Google's online advertising business, the second time a court has denied government efforts to break up the company after it was found liable for engaging in illegal monopoly tactics.

The decision is a historical marker that effectively closes the book on nearly two decades of U.S. antitrust risk for Alphabet's Google, dating back to when government enforcers during the Obama administration considered bringing a monopoly case against the company.

It also is another severe blow to an antimonopoly political movement-at times embraced by both parties-that gained prominence over the past decade and focused on fighting Silicon Valley. Proponents of that approach saw antitrust law as the most direct way to break apart corporate goliaths accused of abusing their power to stifle smaller competitors.

Chevron to Invest $7 Billion in Venezuela, Doubling Production

Chevron, Italian oil giant ENI and other energy companies inked deals Wednesday in Caracas to plow billions of dollars into Venezuela's oil fields following months of tense negotiations.

The agreements mark the first big win for the Trump administration's push to revitalize the Latin American country's dilapidated oil industry. Since ousting strongman Nicolás Maduro in early January, President Trump has said he intends to secure Western crude supply lines and cut fuel prices for Americans.

"We were trying to work at what I call Trump speed," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said at a signing ceremony at the Miraflores Palace. "President Trump didn't want a nudge or a slow drift in a positive direction. He wanted to see as fast as possible a transformation in Venezuela."

Broadcom Third-Quarter Profit Soars on AI-Driven Revenue Growth

Broadcom more than tripled its profit as demand for the company's artificial-intelligence chips and networking technology propelled revenue growth in the third quarter.

The semiconductor and software company on Wednesday reported a profit of $13.09 billion, or $2.68 a share, in the quarter ended Aug. 2. That compares with a profit of $4.14 billion, or 85 cents a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted earnings were $3.32 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $3.22.

Uber's $15 Billion Takeover Bid Gets Delivery Hero Board Backing

Delivery Hero confirmed it is in favor of a $14.8 billion takeover bid from Uber Technologies and advised shareholders to accept it, advancing the planned tie-up of two of the world's biggest food-delivery platforms.

The German delivery company said Wednesday its management and supervisory boards had independently reviewed the U.S. giant's offer.

"They deem the offer to be in the best interest of the Company, its shareholders, employees and other stakeholders," Delivery Hero said. "They therefore support the offer and recommend that Delivery Hero shareholders accept it."

Expected Major Events for Thursday 00:30/JPN: Aug Japan Services PMI

00:30/HK: Aug Hong Kong Whole Economy PMI

00:30/SIN: Aug Singapore Whole Economy PMI

01:30/AUS: Jul International Trade in Goods & Services

01:45/CHN: Aug China Services PMI

02:00/AUS: Aug VFACTS vehicle sales

06:00/JPN: Jul Revised Machine Tool Orders

07:00/MAL: Malaysia Monetary Policy Statement

08:30/HK: 2Q Quarterly Statistics on Vessels, Port Cargo & Containers

22:45/NZ: 2Q Value of Building Work Put in Place

23:00/SKA: Jul Balance of payments

23:30/JPN: Jul Household Spending

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