Wall Street stock futures slipped after a private sector jobs report came in worse than expected.

A report from Automatic Data Processing and Macroeconomic Advisors said the U.S. private sector shed 298,000 jobs in August, a faster rate of job losses than the 213,000 economists were expecting. The report is a closely watched precursor to the monthly U.S. employment report due out on Friday.

In other U.S. economic news, nonfarm business productivity rose at a 6.6% annual rate in the second quarter, its biggest increase in nearly six years.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar was up to US90.53¢ Wednesday, after tumbling three quarters of a cent on Tuesday.

In commodities news, the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 27¢ to US$68.32 ahead of a U.S. weekly oil inventories report at 10:30 ET.

In today’s earnings news, Bombardier Inc. reported that profit fell to US$202 million, or 11¢ a share, in its latest quarter, down from 14¢ a share, or US$259 million, a year ago. Earnings still beat estimates by 2¢ a share.

Overseas, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock average retreated 2.4%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng lost 1.8%.

London’s FTSE 100 index moved down 0.21%, Frankfurt’s DAX was down 0.5% while the Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.6%.

On Tuesday, the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange tumbled to a triple-digit loss for a second consecutive day, led by a plunge in financial sector stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 178.43 points, or 1.6%, to end at 10,689.78.

The financials group fell by 2.9% as investors questioned the sustainability of a recent rally in the sector’s shares.

Junior stocks on the junior TSX Venture Exchange also retreated on Tuesday, pulling the S&P/TSX Venture composite index down 12 points, or 1%, to 1,163.24.

U.S. stocks also finished sharply lower on Tuesday, despite the release of new data showing that the U.S. manufacturing sector grew in August after shrinking for 18 straight months.

The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 185.68 points, or 2%, to finish at 9,310.60.

The S&P 500 index fell 22.58 points, or 2.2%, to end at 998.04.

The Nasdaq composite index shed 40.17 points, or 2%, to close at 1,968.89.

IE