U.S. stocks opened slightly higher Wednesday, as investors weighed a national employment report from ADP that pointed to jobs growth in September that was slower than Wall Street expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
was up 0.2% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500
SPX,
gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
increased 0.3%, according to FactSet data, at last check. Payroll-processing company ADP estimated on Wednesday that the U.S. added 89,000 private-sector jobs last month. That’s below the gain of 150,000 jobs forecast by economists polled by the Wall Street Journal. Analysts note the ADP report isn’t seen as a reliable guide to official jobs figures due at the end of the week.
Treasury yields were trading down Wednesday morning ahead of the ADP report, moving slightly lower from there as investors digested the jobs data. Ten-year Treasury yields are now trading down about five basis points at around 4.75%, according to FactSet data, at last check.