traders
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
  • US stocks gained ground Wednesday, with all three major benchmarks moving higher.
  • Investors are expecting the May jobs report to show a pickup in hiring.
  • The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were moving around record highs.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

Stocks pushed higher Wednesday as investors drew closer to receiving the highly anticipated US monthly jobs report which is expected to show a strengthening labor market.

The S&P 50o and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were moving not far off from record highs as investors marked time to Friday's jobs report for May. Payrolls are expected to rise to 645,000 following April's weaker figures, according to Econoday.

Here's where US indexes stood at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday:

Overall, "economic numbers are…painting a much more optimistic picture about the health of the US economy. For instance, if we look at the US manufacturing activity numbers, which were released yesterday, they clearly show that re-opening of the US economy confirmed pent-up demand. This is putting the risk-on rally back on track," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, in a note Wednesday.

Around the market, AMC Entertainment shares soared more than 20% as Reddit cheerleaders overpower a large stake sale by a hedge fund.

Etsy is spending $1.6 billion to buy Depop, a social shopping app targeted at Gen Z shoppers. Shares of the online marketplace were higher by more than 1%.

Gold rose 0.2% to $1,903.73 per ounce. Long-dated US Treasury yields were little changed, with the 10-year yield at 1.61%.

Oil prices rose. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1%, to $68.40 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, added on 1.2%, to $71.07 per barrel.

Bitcoin gained 1.9%, to $37,324.13.

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