Stocks pulled back on Wednesday, bogged down by Microsoft, as traders contemplated the U.S. economic outlook.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 38.31 points to commence the mid-week session at 47,512,77.
The S&P 500 Index docked 9.34 points to 6,820.03.
The NASDAQ sank 86.7 points to 23,326.97.
Shares in “Mr. Softee” fell after The Information reported it was cutting software sales quotas tied to artificial intelligence. The stock was last down 2%.
Other names linked to the AI trade, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell in sympathy with Microsoft. Nvidia was down almost 1%, while Broadcom retreated more than 2%.
Shares of Marvell Technology also saw a boost, rising more than 6%, as Wall Street reacted to its data center growth projections. American Eagle Outfitters was another standout, rallying more than 15% after the retailer lifted its full-year forecast and said the holiday shopping season was off to strong start.
Stock losses were mitigated, however, after payrolls processor ADP reported that private payrolls surprisingly declined by 32,000 in November. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected an increase of 40,000 for the month.
Despite the tough reading on the economy, traders were likely betting that the private job losses could clinch a Federal Reserve rate cut at its last meeting of the year next week.
Traders are optimistic about corporate earnings results and are looking ahead to the Fed’s interest rate decision on Dec. 10. Markets are pricing a roughly 89% chance of a cut during the upcoming meeting, which is much higher than the odds from mid-November.
The 10-year Treasury gained, lowering yields to 4.06% from Tuesday’s 4.09%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were stronger 51 cents to $59.15.
Gold prices moved upward $35.60 to $4,256.40.
