Hiring slowdown pressures US stocks

NEW YORK: US stocks clawed back early sharp losses on disappointing data on private-sector job growth Wednesday, with the Nasdaq index ending in the black while the Dow closed with a minimal loss.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 top blue chips ended down 10.75 points, or 0.08 percent, at 13,268.57.

The Standard and Poor's 500-stock index fell 3.51 (0.25 percent) to 1,402.31 while the tech-rich Nasdaq picked up a gain of 9.41 (0.31 percent) to 3,059.85.

Poor economic reports from Europe and a weak report on private jobs growth in the United States from payrolls firm ADP drove sellers from the opening bell.

ADP reported US businesses added only 119,000 jobs in April, raising fresh concerns about the health of the US economy.

Despite the poor data, "the US earnings front remains mostly positive, with better-than-forecasted earnings from Comcast Corp, CVS Caremark Corp, and Time Warner Inc," said Charles Schwab and Co. analysts.

Chipmaker Intel led gainers on the Dow, adding 0.79 percent, while Alcoa topped the losers with a 2.4 percent decline.

Shares of embattled US natural gas giant Chesapeake Energy took a 14.6 percent dive after it turned in a first-quarter loss and speculation mounted over the fate of chief executive Aubrey McClendon.

Comcast, the entertainment and cable giant, slipped 0.6 percent after reporting a 30 percent profit jump that beat expectations.

Time Warner shed 1.7 percent after reporting an 11 percent fall in first-quarter profit despite beating analyst expectations.

Big box retailer Target's decision to stop selling the Kindle e-book readers made by online rival Amazon did not dent Amazon shares, which ended up 0.1 percent. Target lost 0.1 percent. -- AFP