Wall Street opens modestly higher ahead of July 4th

• Defensive shares gain traction on Wednesday lead by real estate.
• Stock markets ignore today's ADP private sector employment report.

Major equity indexes in the U.S. started the day in the positive territory on Wednesday. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were both 0.25% on the day while the Nasdaq Composite was adding 0.28%.

However, the fact that defensive sectors lead today's gains suggests that it's unlikely to see the rally gain momentum ahead of tomorrow's July 4th holiday. 

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, Real Estate and Utilities are up 0.9% and 0.5% while the Financials and the Materials are posting small losses in the early trade.