Richard Sichel, must "A lot of the economic news has been mixed, and the market has, to a lot of people's surprise, done really well this year," said Richard Sichel,

U.S. Stocks Edge Higher After Upbeat Jobs, Service-Sector Data

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--Stocks little changed after better-than-expected ADP data
--Europe sees downbeat services-sector data
--Family Dollar, Netflix rise

 
   By Matt Jarzemsky 
 

NEW YORK--U.S. stocks edged higher Wednesday as sluggish readings on the service sectors of Europe and China offset better-than-expected reports on the domestic economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 16 points, or 0.1%, to 13499 in mid-morning trading, after swinging between gains and losses earlier in the session.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added three points, or 0.2%, to 1449. Shares tied to consumers' discretionary purchases led the index as Netflix jumped 7.6% amid bullish analyst comments and Family Dollar Stores added 4.7% after reporting earnings. The energy and materials sectors slumped. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose nine points, or 0.3%, to 3129.
"A lot of the economic news has been mixed, and the market has, to a lot of people's surprise, done really well this year," said Richard Sichel, chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co., which oversees $1.8 billion in assets. "There's just a lack of a push in one direction or the other."
Private-sector job growth slowed less than economists expected in September, according to payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers. The results came ahead of the U.S. Labor Department's closely watched nonfarm-payrolls report Friday, which economists expect will show bigger job gains for September than for the prior month.
The Institute of Supply Management's nonmanufacturing purchasing manager's index, a measure of service-sector activity in the U.S., unexpectedly rose in September.
Meanwhile, service-sector activity in the euro zone contracted more in September than in the prior month. Readings on such activity in France and Spain fell short of expectations and Spain's result was the weakest since November. European markets leaned mostly lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600 down 0.1%. Spain's IBEX-35 index gave up 0.5%.
A report on China's nonmanufacturing activity in China showed expansion slowed in September from August, and consumer sentiment in the country fell for a third-consecutive month. China's stock market was closed for a holiday.
Other Asian markets were weighed down by the weak data. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.5%; Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1%, though it had been up as much as 0.5% at its intraday high.
Front month crude-oil futures fell 2.5% to $89.60 a barrel, while October gold futures edged up 0.3% to $1,781 an ounce. The dollar inched higher against the euro and the yen.
Netflix climbed as Citigroup analysts reiterated their recommendation to buy the shares.
Family Dollar Stores rose after the discount retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that were in line with estimates, and provided a somewhat upbeat earnings outlook for fiscal 2013.
In corporate news, MetroPCS Communications fell 6.3% after The Wall Street Journal reported that Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA unit will merge with the company.
Best Buy rose 2.9% after Reuters reported the consumer-electronics retailer's founder and at least four other private-equity firms are examining the company's books, which could lead to a buyout proposal.

Write to Matt Jarzemsky at matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com.