The New York Stock Exchange chained a fourth straight bearish session on Wednesday, unable to put behind firm words from the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) Governor on a lack of fresh key data.
The Dow Jones was down 0.78%, the Nasdaq index was down 0.56% and the broader S&P 500 index was down 0.88%.
Just like Tuesday, Wall Street stalled throughout the session after a promising start in the green before plummeting again.
The S&P fell to its lowest level in over a month on Wednesday.
“We need more data” to kickstart a new momentum in New York, which Cresset Capital’s Jack Ablin said continues to digest Friday’s proactive pronouncements by Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Operators drew no conclusions from ADP’s monthly survey, which found the private sector added 132,000 jobs in August, nearly a third of the 315,000 economists were expecting.
“I don’t think the ADP numbers are telling us much about Friday’s jobs report,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, for whom it could be a “false alarm.”
The ADP report is therefore often seen as unreliable and unrelated to Labor Department statistics expected on Friday.
None of the other minor indicators released Wednesday carried weight on Wall Street.
“Today we are in a market where bad news (out of the US economy) counts as good news” because that opens up the possibility of a less tight monetary Fed, explained Jack Ablin.
“But right now there’s not a lot of bad news,” he said.
A number of macroeconomic data expected for Thursday and Friday, including the monthly employment report, could therefore shake up the indices.
But for now, “the sellers are clearly in charge,” says Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.
In fact, the CFRA society sees Wall Street flirting again with the year’s lows hit in June, with September traditionally being the worst month of the year for stocks.
After ending the previous session on a sharp fall, Snap rose (+8.69% to $10.88) thanks to the announcement of the elimination of 20% of its positions and a strategic realignment that was well received by analysts.
Meta benefited from the communication of the Snapchat mother (+3.67 percent to 162.93 dollars), which alone did not end up in the red among the rating giants.
Computer and printer maker HP tailed off (-7.68% to $28.71) after reporting sales well below expectations. In the current quarter, too, the group was cautious due to “headwinds”.
The ready-to-wear holding PVH (-10.49% to $56.25), which mainly owns the brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, was also sanctioned after publishing sales below analysts’ forecasts.
The group plans to reduce its headcount in support and administrative functions by 10%, also citing “headwinds”.
Household goods chain Bed Bath & Beyond fell (-21.30% to $9.53) buoyed by a series of announcements before the opening on Wednesday.
The group will close 150 stores, reduce its workforce by 20%, borrow $500 million and has filed a regulatory document that will allow it to quickly proceed with a capital increase.