Dow ends in red for fifth straight day

Stocks ended mostly higher Wednesday, but the Dow finished in the red for a fifth straight day as Disney shares plunged 9.2%.

Investors reacted to a weaker-than-expected ADP jobs report that raised doubts that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its September meeting. The payroll processor said private employers added 185,000 jobs in June, below expectations of a 215,000 gain, according to a Bloomberg estimate.

Strong job growth is seen as one factor the Fed is considering  before moving forward and all eyes are looking ahead to Friday’s government report on employment for June and what the data will mean for the timing of a potential rate hike by the Fed.

"The labor market clearly stumbled in July at just 185K new jobs being created which are not enough for the Fed to be confident that the Great American jobs machine will continue to find work for the millions still out of work," said Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi chief economist Chris Rupkey.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.1%, down 10 points to 17,540.47. The biggest loser of the 30 Dow components was the Walt Disney Co. (DIS), which saw its shares tumble more than 9% after reporting disappointing revenue in the second quarter and issued a lower cable profit outlook.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index ended up 0.3% and the Nasdaq composite index gained 0.7%.

In other economic news:

• The service sector expanded in July at its fastest pace in 10 years as the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index rose to 60.3 from 56.0 in June. That easily beat economists' estimates of 56.2, according to an Econoday survey.

•  The U.S. trade deficit widened 7% to $43.8 billion in June as imports rose and the strong dollar helped hurt exports.

Overseas, Greek stocks fell for a third straight day as the Athens Stock Exchange was down another 2.5%. Greek banking stocks plunged, falling close to the 30% daily limit again.

Other European shares were higher Wednesday. Germany's DAX index gained 1.6% and France's CAC 40 jumped 1.7%. Britain's FTSE index rose 1%.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.5% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite lost 1.7%.

Stocks ended lower in lackluster trading Tuesday as shares of Apple fell further, helping to push the Dow down for a fourth straight day.

Contributing: Associated Press