Employment Reports Keep Stocks Afloat
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Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A better-than-expected report on private sector hiring and news that the service sector’s growing faster kept stocks in positive territory Wednesday. Gains were modest, though.
The Dow closed up 12 points, closing at 13,494.61. The Nasdaq added 15, ending the session at 3,135.23. The S&P 500 closed up five points at 1,450.99.
Payroll processor ADP says U.S. businesses hired fewer workers last month. The company’s survey finds companies added 162,000 jobs in September, down from 189,000 in August. The report only covers private sector hiring, and while it is down, it’s better than analysts anticipated.
The Labor Department will offer a more complete picture of last month’s hiring on Friday.
The NASDAQ has had another trading glitch. Kraft Foods’ share price jumped because of a trading error; those trades then had to be canceled. Relatively few Kraft shares are expected to be affected by the bad trades, and there was no major impact on the broader markets.
Contract talks resumed between American Airlines and its pilots union.
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