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Live Nasdaq Composite: Markets Look to Extend Gains Despite Economic Headwinds

Gerelyn Terzo

Published: June 4, 2025 9:51 am

Last Updated: June 4, 2025 2:04 pm

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Sour Apple

2:05 pm by Gerelyn Terzo

One Wall Street analyst firm is taking aim at Big Tech stock Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). Needham analysts believe AAPL shares are too frothy, downgrading shares to “hold” from “buy.” The analyst firm also withdrew its price target of $225 per share, saying that the $170-$180 range reflects a more reasonable entry point. AAPL shares are relatively flat today. The Nasdaq Composite is holding onto a gain of 0.43%.

Citi Downgrades This Nuclear Stock

11:30 am by Gerelyn Terzo

Wall Street firm Citi has downgraded shares of Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) on the heels of the utility’s long-term power arrangement with Big Tech company Meta (Nasdaq: META). Citi analysts attached a high-risk label to CEG stock, saying that it will miss out on premium pricing for its nuclear power, with a price target of $318. After yesterday’s rally, CEG shares are falling 2.8% today. The Nasdaq Composite is up 0.25% as of mid-morning trading.

Wall Street Improves Market Outlook

9:51 am by Gerelyn Terzo

With the first half of 2025 nearly in the rearview mirror, Wall Street analysts are coming out in droves to revise their year-end forecasts. Most recently, Barclays has updated its S&P 500 year-end outlook by close to 3% to 6,050 compared with a previous target of below 6,000. In addition to Barclays, other analysts firms that have lifted their 2025 S&P 500 targets of late include Deutsche Bank and RBC.

This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.

The markets appear to be shrugging off some lackluster labor market data, with all three of the major stock market averages higher as of early morning trading. Yesterday, the markets managed to turn things around, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tacking on its fourth-straight winning session while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 also gained ground. Today, most sectors of the economy are higher, led by technology with a 1.48% advance.

Nvidia’s (Nasdaq: NVDA) muscled Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) out of the way to reclaim the top of the most valuable company in the world rankings, with a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion. Traders are debating whether NVDA stock will see new highs in the near future.

Here’s a look at the performance as of morning trading:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: Up 62.83 (+0.22%)
Nasdaq Composite: Up 50.28 (+0.26%)
S&P 500: Up 14.10 (+0.24%)

Economic Headwinds

Private sector hiring lost momentum in May, with payrolls expanding by a mere 37,000 jobs. Results fell short of April’s 60,000 gain and also missed the Dow Jones forecast of 110,000 by a wide margin. In a sobering sign for the labor market, it marked the lowest monthly job creation from the ADP report in over two years. Meanwhile, the picture for wages remained largely static compared with the prior month’s results. President Trump is increasing pressure on Jerome Powell to lower interest rates following  the weaker-than-expected private sector jobs data, saying the Fed chairman should have already taken this action.

Market Movers

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) is racing ahead by 15.8% today, extending yesterday’s gains on a positive full-year outlook. Fellow discount retailer Dollar Tree (NYSE: DLTR) is gaining 6% on the day on similarly upbeat guidance.

ON Semi (Nasdaq: ON) is gaining 2.7% today, recouping some recently lost ground. Morgan Stanley analysts recently said that negativity is already priced into ON stock.