For the day, the Dow ended lower by 44 points (0.32%) at 13,910.42. Nasdaq ended lower by 11.35 points (0.4%) at 3,142.31. S&P 500 ended lower by 5.88 points (0.4%) at 1,501.96.
Among the ten economic sectors, the industrial sector the worst performer and utilities the best of its 10 major industry groups. GE and Exxon Mobil led the Dow decliners while Boeing led the Dow winners.
Among major stocks under focus, Amazon.com jumped 4.8% after the online merchant reported its operating income well ahead of analyst expectations. The strength in Amazon helped the Nasdaq outperform for the bulk of the day, but the index succumbed to broader market weakness in afternoon trade.
Also of note, Boeing gained 1.3% after its top and bottom lines came in ahead of the consensus estimates. However, the defense contractor guided its full-year 2013 earnings and revenue below consensus.
The dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, fell by 0.2% on Wednesday.
The big news of the day was a surprisingly weak U.S. economic report. Fourth-quarter U.S. GDP contracted by 0.1% on an annual basis. It is the first U.S. GDP decline in over three years. The market place was expecting the figure to be up 1.0%. The headline number was impacted negatively by a 22.2% decline in government defense spending. Meanwhile, consumption, which accounts for more than 70% of GDP, rose by 2.2%, which was the largest improvement since the first quarter of 2012.
Then on Wednesday afternoon the two-day FOMC meeting ended with its official policy statement indicating still-tepid U.S. economic growth that suggests the central bank will keep its monetary policy very easy, including continuing to purchase government bonds. Most traders expected the Fed to keep U.S. monetary policy unchanged. However, traders also were watching for any nuances that were included in the Fed statement, which could provide early clues on when the Fed will stop its asset purchases.
Overnight, it was reported Euro zone consumer sentiment continues to creep higher, according to the latest figures released from the European Commission Wednesday. The Euro currency continues to rally and hit a fresh 13-month high against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, amid better investor sentiment toward the European Union and its handling of its sovereign debt crisis.
Traders and investors are for the U.S. employment report is out Friday morning.
Social-networking company Facebook climbed 1.3% ahead of its quarterly earnings report expected after Wednesday's close.
Reviewing today's economic data, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index declined by 8.1% to follow last week's uptick of 7.0%. Also, according to today's ADP National Employment Report, employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose by 192K in January. This was above the 175K increase expected by the consensus. The prior month's reading was revised down to 185K from 215K.
Bullion metal prices ended substantially higher on Wednesday, 30 January 2013. Prices rose for second straight day following weaker than expected fourth quarter GDP data at US and a weak dollar. A friendly Federal Open Market Committee meeting statement on Wednesday afternoon also pushed prices higher. Heavy short covering and bargain hunting were featured in gold and silver.
Gold for February delivery ended higher by $19.1 or 1.2%, to settle at $1,679.9 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.
The most-active April gold contract added $18.90, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,681.60 an ounce. March silver closed higher by 99 cents, or 3.2%, at $32.18 an ounce on Wednesday.
Crude-oil prices ended moderately higher on Wednesday, 30 January 2013 at Nymex. Prices closed near $98 a barrel on Wednesday after a weak dollar prompted a rise in price. Prices rose despite buildup in crude inventories for last week and US economy showing a contraction for last quarter.
Crude for March rose $0.37 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $97.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday. Prices lost 0.2% last week. That was the first weekly loss in seven weeks.
The latest weekly inventory report showed that crude supplies rose much bigger than expected 5.9 million barrels for the week ended 25 January 2013. Market had expected a 2.5 million-barrel climb. Also, motor gasoline supplies, however, fell by 1 million barrels, while distillate stocks declined by 2.3 million barrels. Market had expected no change to gasoline stocks and a fall of 1 million barrels in distillate supplies.
More than 700 million shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Composite volume exceeded 3.7 billion.
Indian ADRs ended mixed on Wednesday. In the Banking space, ICICI Bank was down 1.2% and HDFC Bank was up 1.6%. In the IT space, Infosys was up 0.7% and Wipro was up 1.2%. In the other space, Sterlite was up 1.4%, Tata Motors was down 0.6%. Dr Reddys was up 0.7%. .
For tomorrow, economic data will be the initial claims, continuing claims, personal income and spending data. Earning reports will continue to pour in.
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