New York stocks opened lower on news that Iran bombed Kuwait.
As of 9:36 a.m. on the 3rd (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 103.96 points, or 0.20%, at 51,203.83. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 was down 15.11 points, or 0.20%, at 7,594.67, and the Nasdaq composite was down 67.92 points, or 0.25%, at 27,025.98.
The lower open is seen as reflecting a rise in oil prices after Iran's airstrike on Kuwait. The Ministry of National Defense in Kuwait said in a statement, "Due to Iran's invasion, several drones targeted and attacked Terminal 1 at Kuwait International Airport." One person was killed and 63 were injured. Iran said the attack was in retaliation for U.S. strikes on the 1st and 2nd.
Mohit Kumar, an economist at the investment bank Jefferies, said, "It is not in the interest of either the United States or Iran to return to fighting and bombing," adding, "Our base case is that things will move toward a deal."
The U.S. employment report from Automatic Data Processing (ADP) was also released. Private payrolls in May rose by 122,000 from the prior month. The increase was larger than April's 109,000 and topped the 110,000 forecast compiled by Dow Jones.
By industry, real estate and energy were strong, while technology and finance were weak. Shares of private equity corporations fell across the board after reports that Partners Group, a Swiss private equity company, limited withdrawals from some funds. Blackstone and KKR fell 4.53% and 4.39%, respectively, and Blue Owl Capital slid 3.97%.
GameStop rose 8.41% after quarterly results beat market expectations and it announced a $2 billion share buyback program. Marvell Technology jumped another 5.97% after surging more than 30% the previous day. Jensen Huang, Nvidia's chief executive officer (CEO), cited Marvell Technology as the next corporation to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization, boosting the stock.
International oil prices rose. At the same time, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for July 2026 delivery, the front-month contract, was up 1.42% at $95.18 a barrel.