The S&P 500 ticked up Wednesday as Treasury yields pulled back from multiyear highs following the release of much weaker-than-expected jobs data.
The Dow Jones Industrials actually made plus territory, 4.14 points, to reach Wednesday afternoon at 33,006.52.
The much-broader index improved 11.42 points to 4,240.87.
The NASDAQ index acquired 100.64 points to 13,160.11.
Consumer discretionary was the best-performing sector, rising more than 1%. Tesla and Carnival led the sector gains, Tesla up 4%, and Carnival gaining 2.8%.
Energy was the S&P 500's worst-performing sector Wednesday. Philips 66 declined 5%, while APA, Marathon Petroleum and Valero Energy all dropped more than 4% as crude prices fell.
ADP said Wednesday 89,000 private payrolls were added last month, well below a Dow Jones forecast of 160,000 and fewer than an upwardly revised 180,000 payroll additions from August.
The ISM nonmanufacturing index came in at 53.6 for September, slightly below a StreetAccount forecast of 53.7. To be sure, that's below the August reading of 54.5.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury climbed, lowering yields to 4.73% from Tuesday's 4.80%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices retreated $3.36 to $85.67 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $2.20 to $1,839.30.