US stocks open slightly higher US stocks brushed off a weak employment report and poor trading overseas and opened slightly higher. Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 11.45 points (0.08 per cent) at 14,673.46. The broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.99 (0.06 per cent) to 1,571.24, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite increased 4.78 (0.15 per cent) to 3,259.64. The modest gains came after payrolls firm ADP said the US private sector added 158,000 jobs in March, well below the 197,000 forecast by analysts. However, Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare noted that ADP revised higher its February jobs figure. "Factoring in the revision, private-sector payrolls increased over the two-month period on the order that was expected before today's release," O'Hare said in a research note. Stock indexes in Britain, Germany and France were all lower Wednesday.