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Stock Open Modestly Lower; Veeva Surges, H&R Block Dives

Bears had the upper hand at Wednesday's open, as stocks steered lower despite a positive read on August hiring.

Stocks opened slightly lower Wednesday, despite better-than-expected August jobs data.

Dow industrials and the S&P 500 were down 0.2% and the Nasdaq slipped 0.1%.

Veeva Rises; H&R Block, Palo Alto Dive

In the Dow, Pfizer (PFE) rose a fraction. Exxon Mobil (XOM) fell less than 1%.

Veeva Systems (VEEV) bolted 13% at the open after its second-quarter results easily topped analysts' targets. The IBD 50 and Leaderboard stock pulled back nearly 3% in heavy trade Tuesday, setting up a rebound from support at its 50-day moving average.

China-based internet portal Sina Corp. (SINA) opened 1% lower. JPMorgan reiterated the stock's overweight rating in a Wednesday morning note.

H&R Block (HRB) dropped 6% at the start of trading. The tax services chain reported earnings and revenue fell more than was expected by analysts during the second quarter.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) dived 8% at the open. The cybersecurity firm's fiscal fourth-quarter report late Tuesday showed earnings and revenue just above expectations. But Palo Alto's first-quarter earnings and revenue guidance stopped short of the consensus estimates.

AstraZeneca (AZN) slipped more than 1% after the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that the drugmaker had agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle charges it had paid bribes to state workers and doctors in return for increased prescriptions at its Russian and Chinese operations.

Deutsche Bank (DB) shares rose 3% after the company's chief executive said European banks were in need of consolidation, but dismissed rumors of a possible tie up with Commerzbank.

August Employment, Chicago PMI, Pending Home Sales

The week's first shot of jobs data was a bit better than expected, with the ADP National Employment report showing U.S. nonfarm private sector employers added 177,000 workers in August. ADP also revised its July new jobs tally to 194,000, up from an initial 179,000 estimate.  Economists had projected a slowdown to 175,000 positions added. The Services sector added 183,000 jobs during the month, while manufacturing sector employers trimmed payrolls by 6,000 jobs. Notably, construction sector employment contracted by 2,000 workers.

Jobs numbers continue with the Challenger Job Cut report for August, due out Thursday morning, followed by the Labor Department's August payrolls report on Friday.

At 9:15 a.m. ET, Kingsbury International reports its Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index for August. July pending home sales numbers are expected from the National Association of Realtors at 10 a.m. ET, and the Energy Information Administration gives its weekly oil inventories report at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Oil Slips, Dollar Rises International Trade Mixed

Oil prices slumped more than 1% ahead of the morning weekly storage data, sending West Texas Intermediate below $46 per barrel and tracking toward a second straight weekly decline. Gold traded down a half percent to below $1,310 an ounce. The dollar gained vs. the euro and the yen. The 10-year Treasury yield edged up 1 basis point to 1.58%.

China markets turned in a narrowly mixed finish while, in Japan, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 climbed 1%. In Europe, markets were also tightly mixed, with the CAC 40 in Paris up 0.4% and Frankfurt's DAX and the FTSE 100 in London showing narrow losses in afternoon trade.

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