US stocks open lower on weak ADP report

U.S. stocks declined in early trade on Wednesday as weaker-than-expected ADP private sector employment report weighed on the sentiment.

The S&P 500 Index declined 3.40 points, or 0.26 percent, to trade at 1,341.74 at 9:35 a.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 44.20 points, or 0.35 percent, to trade at 12,525.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.20 percent.

The ADP employment report showed that U.S. private employers added 38,000 jobs in May compared with downwardly revised figure of 177,000 jobs in April, while markets had expected a gain of 178,00 jobs in May.

ISM manufacturing index is due to release at 10:00 am EDT, which is expected to show a reading of 57.50 in May compared to 60.40 in April.

On the corporate front, Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK) shares plunged 10.11 percent to $6.30 in pre-market trading session. The company stock was downgraded to a “neutral” rating from “buy” rating at Goldman Sachs. It also downgraded to “underperform” rating from “markets perform” rating at Bernstein.

Crude oil futures declined 0.05 percent to $102.65/barrel and gold futures gained 0.08 percent.

The euro advanced 0.20 percent to 1.4424 against the dollar and the yen gained 0.76 percent against the greenback.

European stock markets are currently trading lower with FTSE 100 down by 23.61 points, DAX30 down by 27.52 points and CAC 40 down by 11.54 points.