The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Wednesday as Wall Street awaits an afternoon speech on the economy from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The index lost 139 points or 0.4%. The S&P 500 lost 0.1% while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3%.
Traders were hit by conflicting reports on Wednesday morning.
Payroll company ADP said Wednesday that private companies added just 127,000 jobs this month, well below the consensus estimate of 190,000 by economists polled by Dow Jones. It signaled that the labor market could be cooling and raised hopes that the Federal Reserve would slow its aggressive hike-rate campaign.
But the Bureau of Economic Analysis also said Wednesday that third-quarter GDP grew 2.9% annually, according to its second estimate. That has been revised up from the initial estimate of 2.6%, showing the economy is stronger than previously expected.
Investors are awaiting Powell’s speech to the Brookings Institution this afternoon, which could provide further insight into the central bank’s thinking on future rate hikes. The Fed is due to meet later this month and is widely expected to make a smaller 0.5 percentage point rate hike after four consecutive 0.75 percentage point hikes to tame high inflation. Any sign of a turning point in future rate hikes would likely propel markets higher.
“This is a Fed-driven recession, so eventually the market should move up pretty quickly when it turns,” Grasso Global CEO Steve Grasso said on CNBC’s Fast Money on Tuesday.
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