Stocks Down Sharply on ADP Report

U.S. stocks fell significantly in the early trading on Wednesday after a weaker-than-expected report on private-sector jobs and as investors worried about a longer-than-anticipated government shutdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately dropped 83.28 points, or 0.55%, to 15,108.42.The S&P 500 fell 10.10 points, or 0.60%, to 1,684.90, The Nasdaq Composite lost 21.79 points, or 0.57%, to 3,796.19.

A survey shows U.S. businesses added 166,000 jobs last month, a sign of only modest improvement in hiring. Payroll company ADP said Wednesday that private employers added just 159,000 jobs in August and 161,000 in July, both slightly lower than the previous estimates.

Applications for U.S. home loans dipped slightly in the latest week, as a drop in demand for purchase loans outweighed an increase in refinancing demand, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 0.4 percent in the week ended September 27.

Three of the top 20 investors in Microsoft Corp are lobbying the board to press for Bill Gates to step down as chairman of the software company he co-founded 38 years ago, according to people familiar with matter.

Monsanto Co (MON), reported a larger quarterly loss on Wednesday as seed sales slipped, but total sales rose and the company said it was positioned for strong growth in 2014. Overall, the company lost $249 million, or 47 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $229 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier.

A JC Penney Co shareholder on Tuesday sued the struggling retailer over its surprise decision to issue more than $810 million of stock to shore up liquidity, which led to a steep drop in its share price.

BlackBerry says the cost of reworking its operations will likely be four times as much as it estimated earlier this year and may turn out to be even be higher than that.