NEW YORK, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks flopped at the finish Wednesday after a report on jobs in the private sector failed to spark much enthusiasm.
Automatic Data Processing Inc. said the economy added 175,000 private sector jobs in January, a lower figure than in seven of the past 12 months, but only slightly below January 2013, when 177,000 private sector jobs were created.
Analysts said January's deep freeze held back retail and job advancements.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 5.01 points or 0.03 percent to 15,440.23. The Standard & Poor's 500 gave up 3.56 points, 0.2 percent, to 1,751.64. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 19.97 points, 0.5 percent to close at 4,011.55.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,229 stocks advanced and 1,871 declined on a volume of 3.2 billion shares traded.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index added 171.91 points or 1.23 percent following Tuesdays plunge of more than 600 points. The Nikkei closed at 14,180.38.
London's FTSE 100 gained 0.13 percent, adding 8.62 points, closing at 6,457.89.
The 10-year U.S. treasury was yielding 2.675 percent, off 11/32.
The euro traded at $1.3531 against the dollar. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 101.39 yen.
Gold gained $7.10 to close at $1,258.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Silver gained 43.3 cents or 2.23 percent to reach $19.855 an ounce.
Crude oil added.13 cents to reach at $97.32 per barrel on the NYMEX.
Corn for March contracts added 1.5 cents to $4.4325 per bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. March soybeans added 2.75 cents to $13.16. Wheat added 3 cents to $5.875.
