Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq waver as jobs data, Trump’s Venezuela oil deal take focus

ADP’s national employment report showed the US economy added 41,000 private jobs in December, the company reported on Wednesday. Economists were expecting job gains of 50,000 from the report.

“Small establishments recovered from November job losses with positive end-of-year hiring, even as large employers pulled back,” ADP’s chief economist Nela Richardson said in a statement.

Annual pay increased 4.4%, which was unchanged from November, according to the report. Services jobs in healthcare and education continued to lead the job growth, while the largest declines were seen in professional and business services jobs.

ADP’s report sets the stage for the December jobs report, which is scheduled for release on Friday. Economists expect to see a gradual slowdown in hiring, with job gains expected to grow by 55,000 in the final month of the year, less than November’s additions. The unemployment rate is expected to tick down 0.1% to 4.5%.

Crucially, Friday’s jobs report marks a return to normal data reporting following the government shutdown, which skewed economic data and their release dates.

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Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) again rejected a takeover offer from Paramount Skydance (PSKY), telling shareholders that the offer “remains inferior” to Netflix’s (NFLX) $72 billion merger agreement.

According to Bloomberg, on Dec. 22, Paramount reiterated an offer to buy shares at $30 each, with billionaire Larry Ellison — the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison — personally guaranteeing $40.4 billion in equity financing. Paramount also included a higher break-up fee.

But Warner Bros. urged shareholders to rebuff the hostile takeover bid, citing the large amount of borrowing required for the deal.

“Paramount’s offer continues to provide insufficient value, including terms such as an extraordinary amount of debt financing that create risks to close and lack of protections for our shareholders if a transaction is not completed,” Warner Bros. Discovery board chair Samuel Di Piazza Jr. wrote in a statement.

Warner Bros. stock fell 0.5% in premarket trading, while Paramount and Netflix shares edged up about 0.3%.

Read more: 5 questions for Netflix subscribers about the Warner Bros. deal

Optimism about the US economy has been tempered at America’s midsize businesses.

According a new JPMorgan Chase survey released Wednesday, just 39% of leaders at midsize US firms said they are optimistic about the national economy in 2026. That’s down sharply from 65% a year earlier, when sentiment for the US economy stood at a five-year high.

Yahoo Finance’s David Hollerith reports:

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Everything is a subscription now, even humanoid robots, argues Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban.

Look at Hyundai (HYMLF, 005380.KS), which plans to build thousands of robots within a couple of years, putting Tesla (TSLA) right in its sights. It’s pushing a model where customers don’t even own the machines.

Hamza writes:

Read more here in the takeaway from today’s Morning Brief.

Crude futures dropped on Wednesday after President Trump said that Venezuela has agreed to relinquish millions of barrels of supply to the US.

Brent (BZ=F) was down 0.3%, or 18 cents, at $60.52 a barrel at 7:30 am ET, paring deeper losses from earlier in the morning. West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) fell 0.6%, or 34 cents, to $56.79.

Both benchmarks were extending a slide of more than $1 on Monday, as investors reassessed rising geopolitical risks amid US tensions with China over trade, Europe over Greenland, and its ouster of Venezuela’s leader in a military operation.

The new US export deal with Venezuela is seen as a move by Washington to take greater control over the country’s oil industry, which Trump has vowed to rebuild with the help of US energy majors.

On Tuesday, Trump said Venezuela will relinquish as many as 50 million barrels of oil — worth as much as $2.8 billion, per Bloomberg.

“I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America,” Trump said in a post to Truth Social.

“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” he wrote.

Bloomberg reports:

Goldman Sachs projects that Chinese stock benchmarks will post another year of growth, though at a slower pace than in 2025, with earnings supported by AI and policy measures.

The MSCI China Index is forecast to climb 20% to 100 by end-2026 from its 2025 close, while the CSI 300 Index (000300.SS) is seen rising 12% to 5,200, strategists including Kinger Lau wrote in a note Wednesday.

“Our expected equity gains in 2026 are almost entirely earnings-driven,” they said. Profit growth will be “supported by AI, ‘Going Global,’ and anti-involution policy.”

China’s equity rally has carried strong momentum into the new year, and Goldman Sachs joins other major firms in maintaining a positive outlook despite hefty gains in 2025. The upgrade reflects confidence that earnings expansion, policy initiatives, and new growth drivers will keep investors engaged.

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Bloomberg reports:

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Bloomberg reports:

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