U.S. Stocks End Choppy Session With Modest Gains

U.S. stocks ended Wednesday with modest gains as the main indexes continued the trend of range-bound trading ahead of the jobs report due on Friday. Investors assessed a series of economic reports, including figures on private-sector hiring and trade-deficit data. Earlier, support for stocks came from upbeat sentiment in Europe. The S&P 500 closed 4.47 points, or 0.2%, higher at 2,114.07. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 64.33 points, or 0.4%, to 18,076.27. The Nasdaq Composite ended the session up 22.71 points, or 0.5%, at 5,099.23.