Stocks Struggled after ADP Data

U.S. stocks struggled in the early trading on Wednesday in the face of a stronger ADP report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 108.63 points, or 0.66%, to 16,422.31 and the S&P 500 slipped 6.48 points, or 0.35%, to 1,831.40. The Nasdaq Composite was off 7.91 points, or 0.19%, to 4,145.28.

U.S. private employers added a bigger-than-expected 238,000 jobs in December, the strongest increase in 13 months, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

Department store chain J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP) maintained its forecast for the fourth quarter after what it described as a pleasing performance over the holiday period. The company said in November it expected comparable store sales to improve in the fourth quarter compared with the a year earlier.

Facebook Inc is buying India-based Little Eye Labs, a startup that builds performance analysis and monitoring tools for mobile Android apps, to help boost its technology as it focuses on growing revenue from its mobile business. Media reports suggest the price was less than $15 million.

Forest Laboratories Inc. (FRX) said Wednesday it would acquire the specialty pharmaceutical company Aptalis for $2.9 billion in cash from the investment firm TPG. The deal is expected to close in the first half of the year.