Futures rose Wednesday, following a massive selloff in the previous session, after a reading on private sector employment came in stronger than expected.
Stocks sold off sharply Tuesday with the Dow down for an eighth day and the S&P turning negative for the year amid economic worries and even after President Obama signed a bill to avoid a debt default.
While both Moody's and Fitch confirmed their AAA-rating on the U.S., threats of future downgrades still remain as both rating agencies warned additional deficit-reduction measures are needed for the government to put its finances in order and retain the rating.
Several told CNBC that the deal simply "kicked the can down the road," and that at best the issue would be raised before the end of the year.
On the economic front, U.S. private employers added 114,000 jobs in July, topping economists' expectations, according to the ADP National Employment Report. Economists had expected the report to show a gain of 100,000 jobs, according to a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, an unexpected increase in private sector job cuts in July helped push the number of announced U.S. job cuts to a 16-month high of 66,414 in July, according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The data come ahead of Friday's closely watched government jobs report, which is expected to show 85,000 nonfarm payrolls and a 9.2 percent unemployment rate.
