US close: Stocks mixed on weaker services, hiring data
Wall Street closed on a mixed note on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq suffering its third consecutive loss.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.24% at 33,482.72, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.25% to 4,090.38, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.07% to 11,996.86.
Investors were mulling over fresh data that showed a slowdown in service sector growth and private sector hiring.
Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand made an unexpected move by announcing a 50-basis point interest rate hike, double the amount analysts had been predicting.
The move contrasted sharply with the announcement made by its Australian counterpart on Tuesday, when it decided to pause interest rate raises.
In currencies, the dollar was down 0.02% on sterling to last trade at 80.22p, while it slipped 0.04% against the euro to 91.66 euro cents.
It also fell against the yen, by 0.15% to change hands at JPY 131.12.
“Today’s ADP miss means that Friday’s payrolls report will be a pivotal one for stocks,” said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.
“The worst outcome would be a weaker jobs number but rising wages, something that might reverse the growing expectation of a Fed pause in May.
“Such a development would likely put stocks at high risk of giving back their recent gains.”
Services growth, private sector hiring both slow in March
In economic news, the US service sector showed a sharp slowdown last month, according to the Institute for Supply Management's services purchasing managers' index (PMI).
The index fell to 51.2 for March from a reading of 55.1 in February, which was far below economists' expectations of 54.5.
The sub-index for business activity remained relatively stable, with a slight drop from 56.3 to 55.4.
However, the sub-index for new orders experienced a significant decrease from 62.6 to 52.2, and the sub-index for prices paid also dropped from 65.5 to 52.8.
"The bulk of the decline in the March headline is in the new orders index, down 10.4 points to 52.2, suggesting that future demand - or the expectation of future demand - already is being crushed by the banking crisis," said Kieran Clancy, senior US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"That's asking a lot, but the trend clearly is slowing.
“Softer wage growth, in turn, will help to bring down inflation in core services ex-housing, making it more likely that the Fed starts to cut rates later this year.”
In addition to the slowdown in the services sector, private sector hiring in the US also declined in March, according to a survey by ADP.
The report said businesses added 145,000 staff last month, a drop from the previous month's increase of 261,000 and below economists' expectations of a rise of 210,000.
Mid-sized companies - those with between 50 and 249 staff - generated the most jobs with 75,000, while firms with 250 to 499 employees shed 42,000 workers.
Large firms with more than 500 staff created 10,000 jobs, while companies with one to 19 employees hired 38,000 people, and businesses with 20 to 49 workers took on another 63,000.
"Our March payroll data is one of several signals that the economy is slowing," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP.
"Employers are pulling back from a year of strong hiring and pay growth, after a three-month plateau, is inching down."
The report also provided a sector-wise breakdown of the hiring trends, with the leisure and hospitality sector adding 98,000 people to payrolls, while the financial activities sector lost 51,000 jobs, and the professional and business services sector shed 46,000 roles.
However, the natural resources and mining space added 47,000 workers, and those in construction hired 53,000 people.
The manufacturing sector meanwhile had 30,000 fewer employees compared to the previous month.
Liminal rockets on takeover offer, C3.ai sinks on short seller story
In equities, shares of Johnson & Johnson climbed 4.49% after the company agreed to pay $8.9bn over the next 25 years to settle allegations that its talc-based products caused cancer.
Liminal Biosciences surged 85.64% after Structured Alpha LP, which already owns 64% of Liminal's stock, made an unsolicited takeover offer at $7.50 per share.
On the downside, C3.ai's shares fell by 15.47% after short seller Kerrisdale Capital Management accused the company of accounting irregularities in a letter to its auditor Deloitte.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
Dow Jones - Risers
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $165.61 4.49%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $509.23 3.24%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $111.91 2.83%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $253.37 2.36%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $149.67 1.66%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $40.11 1.16%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $170.31 1.00%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $62.80 0.95%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $36.12 0.75%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $54.64 0.70%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $120.90 -2.26%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $288.67 -2.13%
Boeing Co. (BA) $209.92 -1.82%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $213.53 -1.80%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $163.76 -1.13%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $284.34 -0.99%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $195.31 -0.96%
American Express Co. (AXP) $161.08 -0.91%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.83 -0.82%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $127.61 -0.63%
S&P 500 - Risers
Phillips 66 Common Stock (PSX) $104.43 6.26%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $135.09 6.01%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $0.73 5.64%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $132.71 5.48%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $165.61 4.49%
Baxter International Inc. (BAX) $42.33 4.35%
HF Sinclair Corporation (DINO) $46.63 4.13%
Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) $71.12 3.90%
FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) $41.61 3.77%
Wisconsin Energy Corp. (WEC) $98.35 3.75%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $196.58 -6.14%
Deere & Co. (DE) $373.82 -6.00%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $22.60 -5.87%
Cummins Inc. (CMI) $220.35 -4.98%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $9.26 -4.54%
Tapestry Inc. (TPR) $40.49 -3.96%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $92.56 -3.45%
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (SWK) $74.47 -3.45%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $68.50 -3.28%
Robert Half International Inc. (RHI) $75.04 -3.15%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $283.99 3.18%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $3.96 3.13%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $321.86 2.39%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $253.37 2.36%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $11.17 2.10%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $149.12 1.92%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $83.67 1.86%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $83.98 1.81%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $82.08 1.61%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $73.78 1.56%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.86 -4.28%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,250.05 -3.98%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $185.52 -3.67%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $68.50 -3.28%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $40.50 -3.20%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $108.60 -3.12%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $317.02 -3.01%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $381.61 -2.86%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $197.45 -2.84%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $51.53 -2.83%