Stocks open higher as report says job losses slow

Stocks are higher in early trading following data indicating job losses are slowing. A big improvement today in the ADP National Employment Report is buoying the mood on Wall Street and easing worries that banks will need to raise more capital than previously thought. The ADP National Employment Report, an unofficial gauge that stock traders have been increasingly monitoring, said private sector employment fell by 491,000 in April. That's much better than ADP's report last month that said 708,000 jobs were lost in March. In the early going, the Dow Jones industrials are up 90 at 8,500, their highest level since January. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 10 at 914, and the Nasdaq composite index is up 15 at 1,769.