NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The benchmark U.S. stock indices were slumping in early trading on Wednesday. Investors were mostly sitting on the sidelines, awaiting the government nonfarm payrolls report on Friday and bracing for the European Central Bank's next policy move. The ECB on Thursday is widely expected to cut benchmark interest rates into the negative for the first time. Wednesday's weak, first-quarter euro-area economic growth data is expected to increase pressure on central bankers to step in and do something to combat a protracted period of low inflation that's threatening to derail the region's fragile recovery. For Friday, economists are expecting a decline in the U.S. government jobs report to 218,000 jobs created in May from 288,000 added in April. The ADP Employment Change Index on Wednesday showed that the U.S. private sector added 179,000 jobs in May, which was below the forecast of 210,000 jobs and the April figure of 220,000. The S&P 500 was down 0.2% to 1,920.47. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.09% to 16,706.74. The Nasdaq was down 0.32% to 4,220.73. The DAX in Germany was off 0.07% and the FTSE in London was down 0.19%. Asian markets finished mixed as the Nikkei climbed 0.22% and the Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 0.6%. Other economic reports on Wednesday also were uninspiring. The April trade balance arrived weaker than expected, with the deficit widening to $47.2 billion. U.S. productivity fell at an annualized rate of 3.2% in the first quarter, faster than the consensus decline of 3%. The ISM Services Index for May will be out at 10 a.m. EDT, and the Federal Reserve's "Beige Book" will be revealed at 2 p.m. Several stocks were capturing investors' attention. Tesla was down 0.84% after Elon Musk said Tuesday at the electric carmaker's annual shareholder meeting that he would remain as CEO for at least another four to five years. Japanese insurer Dai-ichi Life Insurance reached an agreement to acquire Protective Life for $5.7 billion. Protective Life was surging 18.02%. NRG Energy was trading incrementally higher as it gets closer to closing a deal to acquire the largest wind farm in North America, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. UnitedHealth Group was down 0.2% after raising its quarterly dividend by 34% to 37.5 cents a share and after its board authorized the repurchase of 100 million shares. -- By Andrea Tse in New York>> Read More: European Stocks Fall on Growth Slowdown June 4 Premarket Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know
Click to view a price quote on ^DJI.
from Latest TSC Headlines http://ift.tt/1ne8IWN
No comments:
Post a Comment