U.S. Shares Up Slightly Amid Stronger Dollar and Poor Employment Numbers

New York, NY (AHN) - U.S. stocks opened slightly higher Wednesday, the Dow opening almost 20 points above Tuesday's close to 11,400 at 9:36 Eastern.

After a Tuesday that swung from steep losses to a 32-point gain on the big board, the Dow Jones Industrial Average began the day up 27 points at 11,409.

The broader Standard and Poor's 500 index was gaining 5 points at 1,289. On Tuesday, the index finished 5 points higher.

New figures show almost 80,000 private jobs were lost in June, the largest setback in more than six years. The ADP employment index reported Wednesday 79,000 jobs were lost last month, with the largest losses in the manufacturing area.

According to the survey, even service sector employment, which had risen since 2002, fell by 3,000 jobs. The manufacturing sector lost 76,000 jobs in June, with 44,000 factory jobs disappearing and 34,000 construction positions lost. Jobs in the financial sector, strongly hit by the subprime loan mess, lost 3,000 spots.

On Thursday, the government will release nonfarm payrolls.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 4 points to 2,308 as investors mulled news that Microsoft may attempt a new bid for Internet player Yahoo. A Wall Street Journal report suggests the software giant is talking with several media companies about possibly partnering to obtain the Google rival.

A stronger dollar, which gained on the Japanese yen, pushed gold prices lower with the precious metal falling $3.70 to $940.80 an ounce.

Crude oil prices, a growing concern globally, opened slightly higher Wednesday, gaining 18 cents to $141.15 a barrel on the New York Commodity Exchange.