Stocks Fluctuate Ahead of Jobs Report, ADP Shows Hiring Slowed

Major stock indexes seesawed between slight gains and losses on Wednesday as investors awaited key jobs data later this week and digested a mixed bag of economic reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 36,453.94. The S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 4,800.07, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1% to 14,299.03.

The market is coming off steep losses on Tuesday as surprisingly strong economic data sparked fresh concerns about where interest rates are headed.

Those losses were broad-based, with all 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 closing lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the declines, falling 1.4%.

Stocks were also set to trade in a choppy range on Wednesday ahead of a day off for the U.S. stock market on Thursday, which has been declared a national day of mourning to honor former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 30.

The ADP monthly private sector employment report this morning showed that fewer jobs were added in December than economists had anticipated. At the same time, weekly jobless claims came in lower than expected.

The data comes ahead of Friday's highly anticipated release of the December jobs report. Market participants are watching the data closely for any information that could affect the Federal Reserve's decision-making on interest rates.

Separate data released Tuesday showed that there were far more job openings in November than economists had expected. That report, along with a hotter-than-expected reading on services sector activity, underscored the continued strength of the U.S. economy and raised concerns about whether the Fed will cut its key rate again.

The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which is correlated with rate expectations, was down slightly from the previous session at 4.68% in recent trading, after rising to 4.73% this morning, its highest point since April.

Mega-cap technology stocks, which led Tuesday's selloff, were mixed on Wednesday. Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) and Tesla (TSLA) gained ground, while Nvidia (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (META) slipped.

Among other major tech stocks, chipmaker Advancer Micro Devices (AMD) dropped 4.3% after a downgrade from HSBC.

Software maker Palantir (PLTR), which was the S&P 500's top performer last year, fell 2.5%, adding to yesterday's 8% decline. The stock is down about 20% from its all-time high set on Dec. 24.

Shares of eBay (EBAY) were the big gainer on the S&P 500 on Wednesday, rising 10%, after Meta announced it would allow eBay listings to appear on Facebook Marketplace in France, Germany and the U.S.

Edison International (EIX) shares fell 10% and were the biggest S&P 500 decliners as the company's Southern California Edison subsidiary was forced to shut off power to nearly 70,000 customers because of the Los Angeles-area wildfires.

Shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR), one of the world's largest holders of bitcoin, were down 2.9% as the digital currency continued to slump.

Bitcoin was at $94,200, down from an overnight high of around $97,000 and well below its Monday high of near $103,000.

Gold futures were up 0.6% at $2,680 an ounce, while WTI crude oil futures were down more than 1%.