Nasdaq falls in late trading; dollar off highs By Reuters

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Nasdaq fell in afternoon trading on Wednesday, extending the previous session’s sell-off, while the U.S. dollar eased off a more than two-week high hit earlier in the day.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:) were the biggest drags on the Nasdaq, while the was flat as gains in energy and other economically sensitive shares provided some support.

The S&P 500 energy index last up more than 3%.

The Nasdaq fell sharply on Tuesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that rate hikes may be needed to stop the economy from overheating. Yellen later said a near-term interest rate hike was not something she was “predicting or recommending.”

Investors across markets were also trying to position ahead of Friday’s U.S. monthly jobs report.

Tony Rodriguez, head of fixed income strategy at Nuveen, said the Treasury market’s real focus will be Friday’s labor report and the potential that an unexpectedly much higher or lower number of job gains could move the market.

“I think it would have to be closer to 1.2 million (in jobs gains) to have the market really feel like growth is accelerating at a pace that’s a little above what people expected coming into this,” Rodriguez said.

The rose 117.09 points, or 0.34%, to 34,250.12, the S&P 500 gained 5.52 points, or 0.13%, to 4,170.18 and the dropped 43.54 points, or 0.32%, to 13,589.96.

The pan-European index rose 1.82% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.30%.

Stock indexes in Europe were boosted by upbeat earnings and business activity.

Data showed euro zone business activity quickened last month, while the services industry returned to growth.

India’s Nifty 50 was 0.8% higher, its best day in a week, as the central bank rolled out a series of measures to support the coronavirus-ravaged economy, including allowing certain small borrowers more time to repay loans.

The dollar was near flat after moving off more than two-week highs following some softer-than-expected U.S. economic data.

U.S. private payrolls rose by the most in seven months in April, ADP data showed on Wednesday, as companies boosted production to meet a surge in demand amid massive government spending and rising COVID-19 vaccinations. But the 742,000 private jobs created fell short of the 800,000 jobs expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

A separate report showed services industry activity eased in April from a record level in March, likely due to shortages of inputs amid a burst of demand, data from the Institute for Supply Management showed.

The rose 0.045%, with the euro down 0.13% to $1.1997.

In the U.S. Treasury market, yields backpedaled from earlier highs. An announcement of second quarter auction sizes and economic data did not move the market out of its holding pattern.

The benchmark 10-year yield, which hit a session high of 1.626%, was last up less than a basis point at 1.582%, holding below a 14-month high of 1.776% reached on March 30.

In commodities, rose 8 cents to settle at $68.96 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude eased 6 cents to settle at $65.63.

added 0.4% to $1,784.69 an ounce. U.S. gained 0.29% to $1,784.10 an ounce.