The Nasdaq rose 37.10 points (0.2%) to 23,584.27 but the S&P 500 fell 23.89 points (0.3%) to 6,920.93 and the Dow slid 466.00 points (0.9%) to 48,996.08.
Wall Street saw choppy trading as investors paused to gauge the recent market strength that propelled the Dow and S&P 500 to new record highs on Tuesday. Traders assessed mixed U.S. economic data, with ADP reporting a smaller-than-expected 41,000 gain in private sector jobs for December and the Labor Department noting a steeper decline in November job openings.
Attention now turns to Friday’s December employment report, with forecasts calling for a 60,000 job increase and a slight dip in the unemployment rate to 4.5%. Meanwhile, the ISM Services PMI surprised to the upside, rising to 54.4 in December — its highest since October 2024 — signaling renewed strength in the U.S. service sector.
Housing stocks moved sharply lower, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 2.6%. Interest rate-sensitive utilities stocks also came under pressure as the day progressed, resulting in a 2.3% slump by the Dow Jones Utility Average. Telecom, financial and oil service stocks saw considerable weakness while pharmaceutical, biotechnology and software stocks showed strong moves to the upside.
Asia-Pacific stocks turned in a mixed performance. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.1%, while China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by 0.1% and South Korea's Kospi climbed by 0.6%. The major European markets also moved in opposite directions on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9%, the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7%.
In the bond market, treasuries moved notably higher in reaction to the latest U.S. economic data. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, slid 4.1 bps to 4.13%.