U.S. stocks were down Wednesday, one day after new trade data raised concerns that 1st-quarter GDP would show an economic contraction.
A late, minor rally saved the Dow from falling back into negative territory for the year. 10-year Treasury yields moved as high as 2.25, their best mark in 2015.
After sharp gains at the opening bell, investors’ eyes turned to higher yields and energy price, driving the Dow down more than 150 points from its opening level.
On Tuesday, the trade deficit rose to its largest level since 2008—$51.4 billion—causing concerns that the preliminary GDP figure of 0.2% for the first quarter may have been overly optimistic. Imports jumped 7.7% in March (imports detract from growth) while exports rose by less than 1 percent. In other news, oil reached the $60 level for the first time in 2015 on Tuesday.
Today, jobs took center stage as ADP reported 169,000 new jobs were created by the private sector last month. It all leads up to Friday’s big payrolls report, in which economists are hoping for a rebound from last month’s disastrous number of 126,000 new jobs (well short of an expected 249,000.)
Here are the final numbers from Wednesday on Wall Street:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,841.98 (-86.22)
NASDAQ: 4,919.64 (-19.68)
S&P 500: 2,080.15 (-9.31)
