Earnings Preview For Friday: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Reports Q3 Results

Wall Street edged higher in early trade Thursday after an interest rate cut by the ECB and better-than-expected weekly jobless claims in the U.S. boosted investor optimism. On the earnings front, General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) said its first-quarter earnings fell almost fourteen percent on continued weakness in the European market. Also this morning, cereal giant Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) reported results that missed estimates after being dragged down by rising ingredient costs.Friday before the bell, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) will release its latest quarterly results and analysts polled by Reuters expect the company to report third-quarter earnings of 98 cents per share on revenue of $3.11 billion. Despite the slow recovery in the job market, ADP has still soared to highs it hasn't seen since the tech boom.The ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday showed private sector jobs added in April fell short of estimates. The weak report raises concerns ahead of Friday's highly anticipated jobs report about whether the figure is a true sign of weakness in the labor market. The consensus forecast is that the Labor Department will report one-hundred and forty-eight thousand job gains in April, but economists fear that the total could be lower following ADP's estimate. Also on Friday, Duke Energy Corp (NYSE: DUK), Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE: NWL), and Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE) report earnings results before the bell.