(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 05 Jun - US shares were trading higher after soft private payrolls data raised hopes an interest cut might be on the cards earlier than feared.

Private payrolls increased by 152,000 jobs in May with last month's rise being revised down 2% to 188,000, the ADP Employment report said. The headline number was well below forecasts for an increase of 175,000.

The ADP report comes a day after the Labor Department said job openings had fallen in April to the fewest in more than three years.

Strong labor market readings have stoked concern the Federal Reserve may have to keep interest rate cuts higher for longer as it strives to bring inflation down. The focus now shifts to key payrolls data on Friday.

Also on the data front, the US services purchasing managers index rose to 54.8 in May from 51.3 in April, reaching a one-year high and matching expectations, according to final data released by global information provider IHS Markit.

While the Institute for Supply Management's index of non-manufacturing activities, a gauge of the US service sector, rose to 53.8 in May from 49.4 in April, topping estimates for a reading of 51.0.

Manufacturing has been hit hard by high interest rates aimed at taming inflation with many businesses choosing to delay investment cycles to conserve cash.

On the stocks front, earnings from the likes of Campbell Soup, Dollar Tree, Lululemon and CostCo will offer fresh insight into the health of the consumer.

Shares in Hewlett Packard were up broadly higher after the server and cloud-software company beat revenue forecasts, while cybersecurity company CrowdStrike rose 10% after it reported a jump in quarterly revenue.

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(RADIOCOR) 05-06-24 19:22:42 (0677) 5 NNNN