Wall Street moved higher as better-than-expected corporate earnings such as from Priceline and a better-than-expected report on US services outweighed disappointing sales from Walt Disney and lower-than-expected private payrolls growth.
In late trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.07 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.24 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.86 percent.
ADP's private payrolls report showed US companies added a lower-than-expected 185,000 workers in July, the smallest increase since April. Economists had expected a 215,000 increase.
"I don't think the Fed is ready to raise rates and is looking for reasons to not raise," Stansberry trading analyst Jeff Clark told Reuters. "The data supports the idea that the economy isn't overheating and so there isn't an overwhelmingly compelling reason for the Fed to raise rates in September."
Friday's government non-farm payrolls data is expected to show US employers added 225,000 jobs in July, while the jobless rate held at 5.3 percent.