American equities edged lower on Wednesday, following the release of much weaker-than-expected private payroll data.
The drop also reflected wider market uncertainty regarding the Federal Reserve’s insight into the broader economy, which was hampered by the ongoing government shutdown.
The United States plunged into a government shutdown after US President Donald Trump and Congress failed to reach an agreement to keep government programmes and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.
Private sector employment shed 32,000 jobs in September, said payroll firm ADP.
At 10:08 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62.56 points, or 0.14%, to 46,335.33, the S&P 500 lost 21.64 points, or 0.32%, to 6,666.82, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 93.94 points, or 0.41%, to 22,565.63. The United States plunged into a government shutdown after US President Donald Trump and Congress failed to reach an agreement to keep government programmes and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.
At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31.1 points, or 0.07%, to 46,366.78. The S&P 500 fell 23.5 points, or 0.35%, to 6,664.92, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 129.1 points, or 0.57%, to 22,530.946.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.09% from 4.16% late Tuesday. The 2-year Treasury yield dropped to 3.53% from 3.60%.
Gainers and Losers
Nike stock jumped 3.9% after the shoe maker reported better than expected results.
Among megacap stocks, Nvidia dropped 0.9%, Meta Platforms shed 2.8%, and Alphabet lost 1.1%.
Healthcare stocks gained with Moderna and Regeneron both surging more than 6.3%.
AES stock soared 13.3% after the Financial Times reported on Tuesday that BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners was nearing a $38 billion deal to acquire the utility group.
Lithium America’s stock soared 22.5% after the Canadian company said the US government agreed to let it draw from a previously announced $2.26 billion loan.
Bullion
Gold prices rose to a record high on Wednesday, lifted by a weaker US dollar and safe-haven demand.
As of 09:16 AM ET, spot gold climbed 0.2% to $3,866.10 per ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $3,895.09 earlier in the session.
US gold futures for December delivery gained 0.5% to $3,892.80.
Among other metals, spot silver gained 1.4% to $47.33 per ounce, platinum fell 0.5% to $1,566.30, and palladium was down 1.4% at $1,239.97.
Crude Oil
Oil prices fell to a 17-week low on Wednesday, down for a third straight day on the government shutdown.
Brent crude futures fell 72 cents, or 1.1%, to $65.31 a barrel at 10:39 AM EDT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 68 cents, or 1.1%, to $61.69.
