U.S. stocks extend losses on soft data
Xinhua, May 5, 2016 Adjust font size:
U.S. stocks traded lower in the morning session Wednesday as Wall Street assessed a batch of generally downbeat economic reports.
By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 96.41 points, or 0.54 percent, to 17,654.50. The S&P 500 dipped 12.89 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,050.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 34.99 points, or 0.73 percent, to 4,728.23.
U.S. private sector employment increased 156,000 jobs in April from March, well below market consensus of 193,000, the April ADP National Employment Report said Wednesday.
The ADP figure is watched closely as a pre-indicator for the highly-anticipated nonfarm payrolls report due out Friday.
"The lackluster report likely lowered expectations for the jobs print on Friday, which carries far more weight with investors as a proxy for the labor market," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.
Meanwhile, U.S. nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased at a 1-percent annual rate during the first quarter of 2016, according to the Department of Labor.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Wednesday that the goods and services deficit were 40.4 billion U.S. dollars in March, down 6.5 billion dollars from a revised reading of 47 billion dollars in February.
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks ended sharply lower as investors digested quarterly earnings reports amid declining oil prices. Endit