Futures pare losses after soft private payrolls data

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures pared losses on Wednesday after a softer-than-expected private payrolls report for December eased some worries that the Federal Reserve will be cautious in cutting interest rates this year.

The ADP National Employment report showed the U.S. economy added 122,000 jobs in the private sector last month, compared with economists’ estimate of a rise of 140,000.

At 8:17 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 0.1%, S&P 500 e-minis slipped 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis dropped 0.2%.