Opening Bell: U.S. Stocks Waver Ahead of Friday's Jobs Report; Pepsi Beats Estimates

U.S. stocks turned mixed on Thursday, paring earlier losses, on the heels of an improving labor market data. Private sector employers added 172,000 positions in June, according to the ADP National Employment Report. This indicates that the weak May jobs report was likely an aberration. The June jobs report is released on Friday. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims fell by 16,000 to 254,000, bringing down the four-week average. Plus, WhiteWave Foods (WWAV) soared roughly 20 percent after France-based Danone (DANOY) offered to buy the company for $12.5 billion, or a nearly 19 percent premium, to WhiteWave's closing stock price Wednesday. Finally, PepsiCo (PEP) - Get Report shares were on the rise after posting second quarter earnings of $1.35 a share, beating estimates of $1.30 a share. Revenue of $15.4 billion was also slightly above forecasts, but fell 3.3 percent year-over-year. TheStreet's Scott Gamm reports from Wall Street.