CO - S&P 500 Dow Jones Nasdaq open cautiously ahead of services jobs data

The stock market is looking for direction early Wednesday as rates dip ahead of more economic numbers.

The Nasdaq ( COMP.IND ) -0.2% is down. The S&P 500 ( SP500 ) +0.1% and Dow ( DJI ) +0.2% are up slightly.

Rates are down again. The 2s10s curve closed inverted yesterday for the first time in more than a month. The 10-year Treasury yield is down 4 basis points to 2.77% and the 2-year is down 2 basis points to 2.80%.

The 5-year yield is down 5 basis points to 2.77%. The 2s5s curve inverted yesterday for the first time this cycle, according to Deutsche Bank.

"Today’s main event will be the US services ISM report this afternoon," SocGen's Kit Juckes said. "The manufacturing report sent out recession warnings, but services are in better shape, facing a hiring challenge more than a demand challenge. We’ll look at the orders-inventories gap, which has diverged from manufacturing of late."

June ISM services numbers arrive shortly after the start of trading, with economists looking for a drop to 54.3 from 55.9 in May.

At the same time the May JOLTs arrives, with a forecast for 11M job openings. The June payrolls report is set for Friday.

"There are plenty of jobs, but workers do not have enough bargaining power to increase the wage share of GDP," UBS chief economist Paul Donovan said. "The number of job openings helps build job security, giving people the confidence to support consumption by reducing savings. If that job security fades the consequences could be negative."

This afternoon, the FOMC minutes from June's meeting are released.

"If slightly dated, the minutes will show discussions that were unpolluted by the extent of the move lower in interest rates," ING said. "With no clear sign of a deceleration in inflation, our economics team sees no reason for Fed officials to drop their hawkish rhetoric."

"In fact we even expect a 75bp hike in July, barring a sharp weakening in employment indicators in this Friday’s report. If Powell’s recent remarks are anything to go by, the tone of the FOMC minutes will cause cognitive dissonance, with markets now openly questioning how far and how long the Fed can tighten policy before having to reverse course."

See the stocks making the biggest moves this morning .

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