US stock indices were mixed after opening higher on Wednesday amid hopes for an earlier-than-expected cut in interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
At 12:20 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 4.89 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 38,706.40, the S&P 500 was up 35.69 points, or 0.67 per cent, at 5,327.03, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 228.20 points, or 1.35 per cent, at 17,085.25.
At 10:05 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 103.18 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 38,608.11, the S&P 500 was up 12.94 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 5,304.28, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 123.07 points, or 0.73 per cent, at 16,980.11.
At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 63.53 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 38,774.82. The S&P 500 rose 23.14 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 5,314.48, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 117.43 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 16,974.48.
An ADP report on Wednesday said recruitments fell at private US employers in May.
The private employers added 152,000 jobs last month, down from a revised 188,000 figure in April.
Investors hope that the declining jobs growth will fuel calls for interest rate cuts by the US central bank to boost the economy.
Another significant jobs report from the US government is due on Friday.
Shares of Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon gained between 0.3 per cent and 2.5 per cent.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares jumped 12.8 per cent after it reported better earnings. The company also raised its forecasts for the year.
Cybersecurity company Crowdstrike soared 9.5 per cent after strong results.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.31 per cent from 4.33 per cent late on Tuesday.
Oil prices rose on Wednesday as markets weighed OPEC plans to begin tapering some output cuts from October.
Brent crude futures were up 39 cents, or 0.5 per cent, at $77.91 a barrel by 1241 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 39 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $73.64.
Both contracts declined over 1 per cent on Tuesday.
Spot gold was up 0.1 per cent at $2,330.07 per ounce, as of 1010 GMT. US gold futures rose 0.1 per cent to $2,350.00.
Spot silver rose 0.2 per cent $29.54 per ounce.
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