NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks bounced early Wednesday following US data that showed a moderation in hiring that allayed worries about more Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

The US private sector added 103,000 jobs in November, according to the latest ADP report, below the level in October and well under analyst estimates.

Stocks have been choppy thus far in December as markets have struggled to add to gains from a strong November when equities were boosted by expectations the Fed would refrain from additional restrictive actions.

Wall St mixed as traders assess economic data, megacaps rebound

About 30 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent at 36,221.94.

The broad-based S&P 5000 also gained 0.3 percent to 4,579.09, along with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, which stood at 14,265.00.

Among individual companies, Avis Budget Group jumped 9.0 percent after announcing a special dividend of 10 cents per share.

Campbell Soup climbed 6.0 percent as it reported better than expected profits as it confirmed its forecasts while saying the company is off to “an encouraging start” in the holiday season.