Stocks: Wednesday’s review

European stocks fluctuated between gains and losses as U.S. reports on private hiring and services- industry growth beat estimates, offsetting Spain’s stance that it won’t ask for a sovereign bailout soon. In the U.S., a report from ADP Employer Services showed that private employers hired 162,000 workers in September after revised numbers showed they signed up 189,000 the prior month. Last month’s figure beat the average forecast for 140,000 in a Bloomberg survey.

EasyJet Plc, Europe’s second-biggest discount airline, rose 3.1 percent as full-year earnings beat its forecasts.

BTG Plc gained the most in more than 10 months after increasing its financial-year revenue forecast.

FirstGroup Plc plunged 20 percent after Britain’s biggest train operator was stripped of the country’s premier express route.

U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher for a third day, as better- than-forecast growth in American employment and service industries offset concern about China’s economy.

U.S. equities rose after ADP Employer Services said companies added 162,000 jobs last month, topping the median forecast of 38 economists surveyed by Bloomberg for a 140,000 advance. Service industries in the U.S. expanded more than forecast in September.

The data come two days before the Labor Department’s September payrolls report is published. The jobless rate in the U.S. probably rose to 8.2 percent last month from 8.1 percent in August, as employers kept a lid on hiring, economists said. Payrolls increased by 115,000 in September, less than the 139,000 average over the first eight months of the year, the report may also show.

Over the two years ended August, ADP’s initial release has understated or overstated the Labor Department’s initial private payroll figure by an average of 66,000, according to Bloomberg calculations. The average miss by economists in the Bloomberg survey over the same period was 58,000.

S&P 500 1,450.91 +5.16 +0.36%

NASDAQ Composite 3,135.73 +15.69 +0.50%

Dow Jones 13,494.71 +12.35 +0.09%