Stocks Mixed at the Start after Job Data

U.S. stocks opened modestly higher on Wednesday after ADP Reported 118,000 Jobs Created in November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 39.40 points, or 0.30%, to 12,991.18. The S&P 500 index added 0.67 point, or 0.05%, to 1,407.72. The Nasdaq Composite fell 8.46 points, or 0.28%, to 2,988.23.

The private sector created 118,000 jobs in November, primarily thanks to service-related jobs, a number that missed expectations ahead of Friday’s closely watched government report. ADP said the service sector created 114,000 new positions, while goods-producing businesses accounted for the balance of 4,000 jobs. Gains of 23,000 construction jobs offset a loss of 16,000 in manufacturing.

President Barack Obama will renew his case for tax hikes on wealthy Americans to avert a year-end fiscal crunch and call for a smooth increase in the nation’s borrowing limit in a speech to a business group on Wednesday, a White House official said.

Britain’s finance minister said on Wednesday he would break a key debt-cutting promise and warned that growth will be weaker than expected in a bleak outlook that could damage his party’s hopes of winning a 2015 election.

The euro zone’s economic slump was a little less pronounced in November than previously thought.  Markit’s Euro zone Composite PMI, which gauges business activity across thousands of companies, rose in November to 46.5 from 45.7 in October – markedly higher than the preliminary reading of 45.8 reported 10 days ago.

Starbucks Corp intends to open at least 3,000 net new stores in the Americas region by 2017, the company said on Wednesday.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) said on Wednesday that it will cut another 11,000 jobs around the world and take $1.1 billion of pre-tax charges in its latest move to cut expenses. Citi said it expects the moves to cut $1.1 billion of annual expenses by 2014, while reducing revenue by less than $300 million a year.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc is looking to buy McMoRan Exploration Co and another larger oil and gas company in a bid to move back to its roots as an energy producer, the Financial Times said.