NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks were mixed Wednesday as markets digested employment and trade data that suggest a slowing in the economy.
Employers added 145,000 jobs last month, according to payroll firm ADP, much below the February level and weaker than analysts expected.
Meanwhile, US trade data showed a slight widening in the trade deficit in February, with exports and imports both declining.
Wall St slips on recession worries after weak data
“The slowing economic activity is something the Fed will likely be pleased to see, yet it appears to be giving the stock market some cause for pause,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
The worry is the data is “presaging a weaker earnings outlook that has yet to be captured in analysts’ consensus estimates, meaning there is a bit of a valuation headwind,” O’Hare said.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent at 33,486.25.
The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent to 4,094.90, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.6 percent to 12,056.12.
Among individual companies, Johnson & Johnson jumped 3.1 percent after it proposed an $8.9 billion settlement to resolve years-old lawsuits claiming that its talcum powder products caused cancer. The agreement must receive approval in US courts.
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