US close: Stocks mostly weaker amid ongoing economic jitters

Wall Street stocks were mostly weaker at the closing bell on Wednesday, as market participants started losing faith in the Federal Reserve's ability to engineer a soft landing.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.005% at 33,597.92, as the S&P 500 slipped 0.19% to 3,933.92 and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.51% at 10,958.55.

The Dow closed just 1.58 points higher on Wednesday, barely touching the losses it recorded on Tuesday after the Commerce Department revealed that the US trade deficit had widened in November.

“Equity markets have provided a welcome break from the incessant selling pressure that has dominated the week, although today’s mixed session has still seen the Nasdaq and DAX in the red,” said IG senior market analyst Joshua Mahony.

“With the recent losses attributed to last Friday’s earnings rise, this coming Friday provides yet another inflation indicator in the form of the PPI factory pricing figure.

“Nonetheless, with China starting to moderate their Covid restrictions, there is a hope that the economic suffering in the West will be counteracted by a Asia-led rebound in growth.”

Concerns about the state of the US economy remained in focus on Wednesday, with investors trying to determine whether or not an economic downturn was on the horizon.

News that China's dollar-denominated exports fell 8.7% year-on-year in November was also drawing attention, with the drop being a markedly bigger one than the 3.5% decline expected by economists.

On the economic front, mortgage applications declined 1.9% in the week ending 2 December, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America.

Last week's fall, which followed a 0.8% drop in the previous week, came as applications to purchase a home dropped 3% and refinance applications increased 4.7%.

Consumer credit data for October was meanwhile released late in the session, with growth in the value of Americans spending on credit accelerating, but by less than expected.

According to the Federal Reserve, consumer credit rose $27.08bn in October - less than the $28.3bn economists had pencilled in, but still more than the revised $25.82bn print for September.

In equities, DIY retailer Lowe’s was up 2.47% after it reaffirmed its full-year guidance, and announced a $15bn share buyback.

Campbell Soup jumped 6.02% as the food giant beat expectations in its latest set of figures, and hiked its forecast for the rest of the financial year.

On the downside, used car retail chain Carvana plummeted 42.92% after a group of creditors, headed by Apollo Global Management and Pacific Investment Management, reached a deal with the company over credit and debt restructuring discussions.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Iain Gilbert.

Dow Jones - Risers

3M Co. (MMM) $126.35 1.42%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $110.09 1.06%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $285.84 0.90%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $320.15 0.85%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $37.17 0.76%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $542.91 0.67%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $150.24 0.64%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $177.17 0.61%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $108.33 0.37%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $228.98 0.30%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $130.48 -2.09%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $140.94 -1.38%
Boeing Co. (BA) $176.50 -1.08%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $28.33 -0.94%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $48.18 -0.84%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $359.92 -0.82%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $50.70 -0.69%
Visa Inc. (V) $207.81 -0.61%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $270.34 -0.53%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $149.11 -0.52%

S&P 500 - Risers

State Street Corp. (STT) $80.45 8.19%
Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) $56.18 6.02%
Bank Of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) $44.61 4.13%
Svb Financial Group (SIVB) $208.28 4.00%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $89.00 3.61%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $480.05 3.11%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $74.42 3.03%
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) $108.15 3.00%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $86.27 2.81%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $44.60 2.81%

S&P 500 - Fallers

M&T Bank Corp. (MTB) $147.97 -7.72%
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $68.27 -7.30%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $17.79 -6.47%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $90.79 -6.32%
Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) $35.28 -5.54%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $13.55 -5.44%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $37.81 -4.71%
Welltower Inc (WELL) $65.00 -4.69%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $33.14 -4.44%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $8.89 -4.41%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $480.05 3.11%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $74.42 3.03%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $764.27 2.25%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $164.72 2.08%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $317.58 1.85%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $84.03 1.81%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $103.69 1.44%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $601.35 1.40%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $106.11 1.34%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $388.09 1.27%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $90.79 -6.32%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $13.55 -5.44%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $1,955.56 -4.24%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $174.04 -3.21%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $58.45 -3.15%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $32.27 -2.54%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $114.58 -2.34%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $95.15 -2.22%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $94.94 -2.10%
Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $22.65 -2.08%