US close: Stocks mostly lower as Dow snaps three-day streak

Wall Street stocks finished mostly lower on Wednesday, with the Dow managing to snap a three-day winning streak by the closing bell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended its session down 0.65% at 26,119.61 and the S&P 500 lost 0.36% to 3,113.49, while the Nasdaq Composite managed gains of 0.15% to settle at 9,910.53.

It was a negative session throughout for the Dow, which had opened 75.66 points lower, reversing some of Tuesday’s gains after stronger-than-expected retail figures and news of more monetary and fiscal policy support from the Federal Reserve and the White House boosted sentiment.

Market participants were continuing to watch the situation in the US with some concern on Wednesday, especially after the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Anthony Fauci warned of a need to move quickly in order to avoid a second surge in cases in various states.

While testimony from Fed chair Jerome Powell provided some support during the previous session, he also stated that he remained cautious on the outlook for the US economy.

Investors were also seemingly optimistic that the White House will be able to pull together a $1trn infrastructure package.

Also in focus was a fresh outbreak of Covid-19 in the Chinese capital of Beijing, with 137 new cases reported in recent days, and record increases in new cases in Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas.

In data news, homebuilders in the US broke ground on fewer new homes than expected last month, but some economists were sanguine.

According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, housing starts increased in May by 4.3% month-on-month, to reach an annualised pace of 974,000, against consensus forecasts for 1.1 million.

Jerome Powell said earlier that the central bank’s bond buying programme would mostly consist of individual company debt, rather than exchange-traded funds, in comments made before the House Financial Services Committee in his second day of testimony.

“Over time we’ll gradually move away from exchange-traded funds and move to buying bonds,” the Fed chair said.

“It’s a better tool for supporting liquidity and market functioning.”

Also in the headlines, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden had opened up a 13 point lead against Donald Trump, for the widest gap in the year-to-date.

Investors were also looking forward to jobless claims data on Thursday, with Pantheon Macroeconomics chief economist Ian Shepherdson saying markets were bracing for disappointing numbers.

“The consensus forecast is that initial claims will be reported falling to 1.29 million from 1.542 million, marking a 16% decline - a bit faster than the recent trend, but a slightly smaller drop than last week,” he said.

“But we think claims rose slightly, to about 1.6 million.”

He said that pessimism reflected the hard data already released from three states, as well as Google search data.

“Unadjusted claims rose by 17.1% last week in Arizona, and by 7.0% in Wisconsin, though they dipped by 5.1% in Pennsylvania.

“Google searches fell by 8.0%, but overall our model points to a 5% week-to-week increase in unadjusted initial claims.”

On the corporate front, stocks in companies most likely to benefit from the reopening of the US economy were in focus, with United Airlines down 2.39%, Delta Air Lines off 1.85% and American Airlines losing 0.29%.

Cruise operators Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean were off 6.51%, 8.4% and 7.09%, respectively.

Dow Jones - Risers

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.56 0.48%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $250.85 0.36%
Visa Inc. (V) $193.56 0.35%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $194.24 0.35%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $190.79 0.25%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $99.21 0.17%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $60.49 0.15%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $42.15 0.00%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $292.60 -0.14%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $46.63 -3.26%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $91.54 -2.65%
Boeing Co. (BA) $192.54 -2.64%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $99.48 -2.53%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $206.19 -1.62%
American Express Co. (AXP) $103.96 -1.57%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $128.23 -1.44%
Raytheon Technologies Corporation (RTX) $66.90 -1.36%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $114.82 -1.15%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $76.29 -0.88%

S&P 500 - Risers

Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $148.64 4.19%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $75.53 3.47%
Aon plc (AON) $191.93 3.12%
News Corp Class A (NWSA) $12.30 3.02%
Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (WLTW) $197.35 2.98%
Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW) $135.65 2.97%
Gallagher Arthur J (AJG) $98.35 2.82%
Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS) $104.31 2.82%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $313.78 2.72%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $119.82 2.68%

S&P 500 - Fallers

H&R Block Inc. (HRB) $16.32 -9.48%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $19.20 -8.40%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $18.95 -7.61%
Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $58.03 -7.15%
Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $46.55 -6.84%
Arconic Inc. (ARNC) $15.51 -6.62%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $19.09 -6.51%
Macy's Inc. (M) $7.15 -6.41%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $19.04 -6.16%
Cimarex Energy Co (XEC) $28.81 -5.85%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $111.32 4.56%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $75.53 3.47%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $362.41 2.94%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $313.78 2.72%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $119.82 2.68%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $447.77 2.67%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $60.00 2.49%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $138.92 2.40%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $280.09 2.31%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $128.11 1.89%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $91.13 -3.04%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $89.08 -2.24%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $1,638.24 -2.12%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $88.70 -2.00%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $22.13 -1.78%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $43.71 -1.71%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $237.04 -1.61%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $21.69 -1.57%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $935.73 -1.53%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $39.22 -1.33%