US close: Stocks mostly lower following PMIs

dl nyse new york stock exchange wall st street city finance dow jones nasdaq sp finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america 2 — New York Stock ExchangeSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks delivered a mixed performance on Wednesday as March trading kicked off in much the same was as February wrapped up.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.02% at 32,661.84, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.47% to 3,951.39 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.66% weaker at 11,379.48.

The Dow closed 5.14 points lower on Wednesday, narrowly avoiding extending losses recorded in the previous session as investors digested a number of macro points.

Stronger-than-expected data out of China boosted sentiment prior to the open, with the nation's National Bureau of Statistics revealing that its manufacturing PMI rose to 52.6 last month, but stateside data after the opening bell saw major averages take a turn for the worse.

On the macro front, US mortgage applications fell 5.7% in the week ended 24 February for a third consecutive decline and almost 28-year low. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, applications to refinance a home loan dropped 5.5% and applications to purchase a home loan declined 5.6%.

Elsewhere, factory sector activity in the US experienced a solid decline last month as levels of output and new orders registered further falls. S&P Global's factory sector Purchasing Managers' Index rose from a reading of 46.9 for January to 47.3 in February - short of a preliminary reading of 47.8 and the quickest pace of contraction since 2009, outside of the pandemic lockdown.

On another note, February's manufacturing PMI from the Institute of Supply Management edged slightly higher to 47.7, up from 47.4 in January but below forecasts for a reading go 48.

Finally, US construction spending dipped 0.1% month-on-month in January to $1.82trn, according to the Census Bureau, following an upwardly revised contraction in December and falling short of expectations of 0.2% increase..

In the corporate space, Kohls posted a surprise holiday-quarter loss, Wendys beat quarterly earnings estimates, Lowe's beat on earnings but delivered revenues that disappointed amid swindling DIY demand, and Dbollar Tree shares rose after posting a quarterly earnings beat.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $249.08 3.81%
3M Co. (MMM) $110.21 2.29%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $167.35 2.29%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $236.19 1.96%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $25.33 1.60%
Boeing Co. (BA) $204.55 1.49%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $58.04 1.43%
American Express Co. (AXP) $175.91 1.10%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $162.05 0.80%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $106.69 0.39%