Private job data checks in worse than expected
US stocks ended with strong losses on Wednesday, 03 April 2013. U.S. stock losses escalated on Wednesday with the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 retreating from record highs, after disappointing labor-market data ahead of Friday's non farm payrolls report. Market strategists played down the notion that the market's decline had much to do with reports the U.S. was readying to deploy an advanced missile-defense system to Asia in response to threats by North Korea.
For the day, the Dow ended lower by 111.66 points (0.8%) at 14,550.35. Nasdaq ended lower by 36.26 points (1.11%) at 3,218.6. S&P 500 ended lower by 16.56 points (1.05%) at 1,553.69. Dow was trading lower by 137 points earlier during the day.
Financial companies were hardest hit and technology lost the least among its major sectors.
In overnight news, there were new developments on the Cyprus banking crisis front Wednesday. The island nation reached an agreement with the IMF for an additional 1 billion Euro lifeline loan. There was little market reaction to that news. Euro zone inflation rose at its slowest rate in two years in March, at a 1.7% annualized rate, according to the Euro zone statistics bureau, Eurostat. There are key central bank meetings of the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and Bank of England on Thursday, all of which will be closely monitored by the market place.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, fell by 0.15% on Wednesday.
Looking back at today's economic data at Wall Street, the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications fell 4.0% to follow last week's rise of 7.7%.
According to today's ADP National Employment Report, employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose by 158K in March. This was below the increase of 197K expected.
The ISM Non-manufacturing index softened in March, falling from 56.0 in February to 54.4. The market had expected the index to drop to 55.5.
Crude-oil prices ended lower on Wednesday, 03 April 2013 at Nymex. Prices dropped due to bigger than expected climb in crude supplies reported by the energy department for last week. Mixed economic data at Wall Street also pushed prices lower. Light and sweet crude for May fell by $2.74 or 2.8% to settle at $94.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.
In the weekly inventory report, the EIA reported on Wednesday a climb in crude supplies that was more than the market expected. Crude supplies rose 2.7 million barrels to 388.6 million for the week ended 29 March 2013.Market had expected a 2.5 million-barrel climb. The EIA reported motor gasoline supplies fell by 600,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles declined 2.3 million barrels. Market had called for a decline or 1.25 million barrels for gasoline stockpiles and a fall of 1 million barrels in distillate supplies.
Bullion metal prices ended lower on Wednesday, 03 April 2013. Gold prices ended the U.S. day session sharply lower and hit a 10-month low on Wednesday. Sharply lower crude oil prices and a generally weak raw commodity sector on Wednesday also led to downside price pressure in gold. Reports this week said exchange traded funds (ETFs) are also seeing investors liquidate their paper gold positions.
Gold for June delivery ended lower by $22.4 or 1.4% at $1,553.5 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday. May silver ended lower by 45 cents (1.7%) at $26.8 an ounce on Wednesday.
For every share rising, more than three fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where nearly 812 million shares traded. Composite volume exceeded 4 billion.
Indian ADRs ended mostly lower on Wednesday. In the IT space, Infosys was down 1% and Wipro was down 1.8%. In the Banking space, HDFC Bank was down 1.3% and ICICI Bank was down 3.4%. In the Telecom space, Tata Communication was down 1.2%. In other space, Tata Motors was down 3.4%, Dr Reddys was down 1.3% and Sterlite was down 3.3%.
For tomorrow, March Challenger Job Cuts will be reported at 7:30 ET while initial and continuing claims will be announced at 8:30 ET. In addition, the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank are both scheduled to announce their latest interest rate decisions.
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