US STOCKS-Wall St rises on strong domestic data; Tesla limits Nasdaq's advance

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Jan. private sector payroll rises more than expected
* U.S. services sector activity picks up in Jan -ISM
* Coty surges on profit, revenue beat
* Ford slumps after weak 2020 forecast
* Indexes up: Dow 1.21%, S&P 0.83%, Nasdaq 0.20%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh
Feb 5 (Reuters) - Wall Street rallied for a third straight
day on Wednesday after a clutch of positive data pointed to
strength in the U.S. economy, but losses in Tesla shares pulled
the Nasdaq off its record high.
Private-sector payrolls increased by 291,000 in January, the
ADP National Employment Report showed, far above expectations of
156,000 job additions.
Meanwhile, data from the Institute for Supply Management
(ISM) showed U.S. services sector activity picked up last month
following an upbeat manufacturing report this week. "The services numbers were blowout... The ADP numbers were
more of a catch up, but it's still a very strong and continued
evidence that the labor market is incredibly strong," said Scott
Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments in
Raleigh, North Carolina.
Wall Street has more than recovered last week's steep losses
as global growth worries eased after China boosted liquidity to
limit the economic impact of the virus outbreak.
The country's central bank is likely to lower its key rate
on Feb. 20, sources told Reuters, as the death toll from the
epidemic climbs to nearly 500.
Earlier in the day, stock index futures got a boost after a
report that a Zhejiang University team had found some drugs that
could inhibit the coronavirus in vitro cell experiments.
However, the World Health Organization played it down,
saying "there are no known effective therapeutics against this
2019-nCoV (virus)". At 1:04 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 1.21% at 29,154.79.
The S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.83% to 3,325.07 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 0.20% at 9,486.59.
Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, led by a 3.9%
gain in energy stocks .SPNY , which tracked a jump in oil
prices.
Among stocks, Tesla Inc TSLA.O dropped 17% after a six-day
run that saw its shares surge about 60%.
Coty Inc COTY.N jumped 12.7% as the cosmetics maker beat
estimates for quarterly profit and revenue. Ford Motor Co F.N tumbled nearly 9.4% after the No. 2 U.S.
automaker delivered a weaker-than-expected 2020 forecast.
The U.S. earnings season has reached the halfway mark, with
corporate results largely beating Wall Street expectations.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.23-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.42-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 63 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 113 new highs and 19 new lows.