01:57 PM EDT, 06/04/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday, while Treasury yields declined as markets assessed the latest economic data and comments by President Donald Trump.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3% at 19,464.2 after midday Wednesday, while the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 5,982.9. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.1% to 42,562.4. Among sectors, communication services paced the gainers, while energy saw the steepest decline.

In economic news, US private sector employment grew last month at the slowest pace since March 2023, Automatic Data Processing ( ADP ) reported.

"After a strong start to the year, hiring is losing momentum," ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said. "Pay growth, however, was little changed in May, holding at robust levels for both job-stayers and job-changers."

Responding to the ADP report, Trump said that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell "must" lower interest rates immediatelySince taking office, Trump has repeatedly called on Powell to cut rates.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to report Friday that the US economy added 130,000 nonfarm jobs last month, which would mark a drop from a 177,000 increase reported for April, according to a Bloomberg poll.

Two surveys regarding the US services sector yielded contrasting results, with the Institute for Supply Management's data showing activity slipping into contraction territory in May, while S&P Global ( SPGI ) indicated a faster pace of growth.

"May's (purchasing managers' index) level is not indicative of a severe contraction, but rather uncertainty that is being expressed broadly among ISM services business survey panelists," said Steve Miller, chair of the ISM's services business survey committee.

Earlier in the week, ISM data showed that the US manufacturing sector contracted for third straight month in May, while an S&P Global ( SPGI ) survey indicated faster expansion sequentially.

Mortgage applications in the US declined for the third week in a row as potential borrowers waited for loan rates to fall more substantially, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

US Treasury yields were lower intraday, with the 10-year rate slumping 10.5 basis points to 4.36% and the two-year rate losing 9.1 basis points to 3.87%.

In an early Wednesday social media post, Trump said that his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, was "extremely hard to make a deal with." Media publications reported earlier this week that Trump and Jinping could hold one-on-one talks on tariffs soon.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 1.1% at $62.73 a barrel intraday.

In company news, Thor Industries ( THO ) shares jumped 3.4% after the recreational vehicle maker posted a surprise increase in fiscal third-quarter earnings and sales year over year and reiterated its full-year outlook despite macroeconomic uncertainties.

Dollar Tree ( DLTR ) shares tumbled 6.8%, the steepest decline on the S&P 500, after the discount retailer forecast an earnings drop of up to 50% for the ongoing three-month period amid the impact of tariffs.

CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) followed Dollar Tree ( DLTR ) on the S&P 500 intraday Wednesday, down 5.5%. The cybersecurity firm said late Tuesday that it fiscal first-quarter earnings fell year-on-year, while revenue growth matched Wall Street's estimates.

MongoDB ( MDB ) , Five Below ( FIVE ) and PVH (PVH) are among the companies scheduled to report after the closing bell Wednesday.

Gold was up 0.7% at $3,399.3 per troy ounce, while silver fell 0.1% to $34.6 per ounce.