WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After moving mostly higher over the two previous sessions, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.
While the Dow dipped 91.90 points or 0.2 percent to 42,427.74, the S&P 500 inched up 0.44 points or 0.1 percent to 5,970.81 and the Nasdaq rose 61.53 points or 0.3 percent to 19,460.49.
Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reached their best closing levels in well over three months.
The lackluster performance on Wall Street came following the release of some weaker than expected U.S. economic data.
While the data raised concerns about the strength of the economy, it also generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.
Before the start of trading, payroll processor ADP released a report showing much weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of May.
ADP said private sector employment rose by 37,000 jobs in May after climbing by a downwardly revised 60,000 jobs in April.
Economists had expected private sector employment to jump by 115,000 jobs compared to the addition of 62,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
In a post on Truth Social immediately after the report was released, President Donald Trump once again urged Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.
'ADP NUMBER OUT!!! 'Too Late' Powell must now LOWER THE RATE,' Trump said. 'He is unbelievable!!!'
A separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed service sector activity in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a slight contraction in the month of May.
The ISM said its services PMI fell to 49.9 in May from 51.6 in April, with a reading below 50 indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 52.0.
With the unexpected decrease, the services PMI dropped to its lowest level since hitting 49.2 in June 2024, which marked the last time the index was in contraction territory.
However, the Fed is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 95.6 percent chance the central bank will leave rates unchanged.
Sector News
Despite the lackluster performance by the broader markets, housing stocks moved significantly higher on the day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.7 percent.
Considerable strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
Gold and pharmaceutical stocks also saw some strength on the day, while energy stocks came under pressure as the price of crude oil gave back ground following a two-day surge.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.8 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.4 percent.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved sharply higher in reaction to the latest U.S. economic data. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, plunged 9.5 basis points to 4.365 percent.
Looking Ahead
Reports on weekly jobless claims and the U.S. trade deficit may attract attention on Thursday, although trading activity may be somewhat subdued ahead of the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
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