After ADP Report, Stocks Fell

U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday as weak data on the labor market became the latest in string of soft economic reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 43.67 points to 12,526.12. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 4.51 points to 1,340.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 4.07 points to 2,831.23.

The ADP Employer Services report showed private employers added a scant 38,000 jobs last month, while April private payrolls were revised down to an increase of 177,000 from the previously reported 179,000. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast a gain of 175,000 jobs for May.

Greece and a team of EU/IMF/ECB inspectors are set to conclude talks by Thursday on a medium-term fiscal plan including the government’s progress toward meeting budget targets, a Greek newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Oil prices hovered above $102 a barrel Wednesday as traders eyed a weakening dollar and the possibility it could push crude back to 2-year highs. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for July delivery was down 23 cents to $102.47 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Marathon Oil will spend $3.5 billion in cash to snap up oil and natural gas fields in Texas as the company boosts exploration and production in a highly targeted and energy rich region. The Houston company said

Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with the owner, Hilcorp Resources Holdings, a partnership that includes Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.