NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stock futures lacked direction on Wednesday after turning slightly positive following an ADP jobs report showing that the private sector shed fewer jobs in November than October.
Futures for the S&P 500 were down by 0.3 of a point at 1108.1 and were 0.04 point above fair value. Futures for the Nasdaq rose 0.8 of a point and were 5.04 points above fair value.
Tuesday's trading session saw the Dow Jones add 126.7 points, or 1.2%, to close at 10,471.6, its highest level in nearly 14 months. The S&P 500 added 13.2 points, or 1.2%, to close at 1108.9, and the Nasdaq finished up by 31.2 points, or 1.5%, at 2175.8.
Commodities prices were mixed Wednesday morning after spending Tuesday's session in positive territory, boosted by a weaker U.S. dollar and promising manufacturing data for the U.S. and China. On Wednesday, the dollar declined 0.02%, according to the dollar index, and gold prices broke through $1,200 an ounce early Wednesday. The most actively traded February gold contract was up by $10.30, to $1,210.50 an ounce.
Oil prices, meanwhile, weakened after the American Petroleum Institute said crude stockpiles increased last week by 2.9 million barrels. Analysts polled by Platts had been anticipating a decline of 1.3 million barrels. At 10:30 a.m. EST, the Energy Information Administration releases its report, which is expected to impact energy markets. Crude oil for January delivery traded 66 cents lower at $77.71 a barrel.
Overseas, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.8%, and Japan's Nikkei increased 0.4%. The FTSE in London fell 0.4%, as the DAX in Frankfurt declined by 0.2%.
