US stocks up on hiring data, COVID-19 vaccine progress

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks rose early Wednesday as data showed US businesses added jobs in June, while a pharmaceutical venture announced positive preliminary data on a coronavirus vaccine.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6 percent at 25,960.14.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent to 3,114.99, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.2 percent to 10.082.83.

US private companies added 2.4 million jobs in June, according to monthly data from payroll services firm ADP, as some workers sent home in March and April due to coronavirus shutdowns have returned to work.

However, the hiring gain was more than a million short of what economists had expected.

Investor sentiment was also boosted by an announcement by Pfizer and BioNTech of positive data from a preliminary study of a vaccine candidate. The companies described the early results as "encouraging."

The research comes as the US sees a resurgence of coronavirus cases that has prompted some states and companies to reinstate restrictions to limit the spread of the virus.

Besides Pfizer, which jumped 4.1 percent, a big early gainer was FedEx, which surged 16 percent after reporting better than expected quarterly profits.