US open: Stocks steady amid lull in bond selling

dl new york city nyc ny us usa united states of america manhattan skyline city finance trading nyse dow jones sp nasdaq dollar dollars usd fed federal reserve — ManhattanSharecast photo / Josh White

Trading on Wall Street got off to a mixed start on Wednesday as investors continued to keep a close eye on the government bond market, even as they digested the historic ousting of the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Overnight, Kevin MCarthy became the first speaker to be ousted from that office in U.S. history as hard line Republicans voted him out, with Democrats abstaining from helping him.

As of 1516 BST, the Dow Jones Industrials was off by 0.25% at 32,919.47, although the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.28% to 13,092.89.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down three basis points to 4.773%.

Helping to steady yields, consultancy ADP reported that America's private sector added just 89,000 workers in September (consensus: 158,000).

Although the ADP reports were not especially reliable, investors were expectant ahead of the all-important official non-farm payrolls figures due out on 6 October.

Investors were also keeping a close eye on the S&P 500, which was drifting down 0.03% to 4,228.44, as it approached major technical support at 4,200 points.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were retreating 2.77% to $86.76 a barrel on the NYMEX.

In other economic news, the ISM's closely-followed services purchasing managers' index dipped from 54.5 for August to 53.6 in September (consensus: 53.5).

S&P Global meanwhile revised its own September services PMI down trivially from 50.2 to 50.1.

Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, noted the recent weakening in consumer-related services such as travel and in financial services.

"The economy therefore looks to be moving into the fourth quarter on a weak footing, hinting at slower GDP growth as we head toward the end of the year."

Dow Jones - Risers

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $315.65 0.72%
Visa Inc. (V) $230.05 0.54%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $102.27 0.49%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $55.14 0.47%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $95.36 0.28%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $261.63 0.24%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $159.36 0.17%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $200.14 0.16%
Boeing Co. (BA) $189.05 0.07%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $292.05 0.04%