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Markets eye nonfarm payrolls data, regional banks rally and the Pentagon has another go at soliciting a meeting with China. — Liza Tetley

All eyes will be on payrolls data later today for the latest clue on the direction of monetary policy after mixed signals earlier this week on the US labor market. On Tuesday, data for March showed job vacancies fell by more than forecast and layoffs jumped, suggesting demand may be easing. But Wednesday’s figures from the ADP for private payrolls in April showed resilience, increasing by 296,000 -- nearly double what was projected. That said, wages looked to be cooling, growing at the slowest pace since November 2021. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect an increase of 185,000 in nonfarm payrolls for April, down from 236,000, while the unemployment rate is expected to tick up a tenth of a percentage point to 3.6%.