US close: Mixed performance on the Street following dismal payroll figures
Major US indices turned a mixed performance on Wednesday, bringing an end to a rally that started on Monday following some dismal payroll figures.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.91% at 23,664.64 and the S&P 500 was 0.70% weaker at 2,848.42, while the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.51% stronger at 8,854.39.
The Dow closed 218.45 points weaker on Wednesday, reversing gains recorded in the previous session as market participants again bet on the nation's economy opening up and cheered a further recovery in oil prices.
Wednesday's moves come as Donald Trump acknowledged on Tuesday that there would undoubtedly be "more death" from the Covid-19 pandemic if the US began to re-open but argued that closed businesses would cost people their lives in other ways - including overdoses and suicides.
Covid-19 has already inflected at least 1.1m Americans and killed more than 70,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.
A reversal in West Texas Intermediate crude prices also put pressure on indices but a rally in tech stocks helped the Nasdaq stay in the green.
On the macro front, US mortgage rates fell to a fresh record low last week, while new applications edged higher and purchase volumes continued to increase as more states around the country plot coronavirus lockdown exits.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said 30-year fixed rates for conforming loan balances of less than $510,400 fell 3 basis points to 3.4% for the week ending May 1 - the lowest on record and a full 1% lower from the same period last year.
Elsewhere, private-sector companies shed a massive 20.2m jobs last month after many were forced to shutter during the nationwide shutdown, according to Automatic Data Processing.
The data was seen as foreshadowing what's expected to be a similarly massive drop in the government's official employment report on Friday.
In corporate news, shares in video games developer Activision Blizzard were up after beating on earnings and upping its full-year guidance, while Disney shares were in the red after reporting a 58% drop in sales.
Lyft stocks soared after revealing sales had nearly reached $1bn despite the pandemic, while PayPal shares were up in extended trading despite falling short of first-quarter expectations.