In Light Of Sluggish Economic Data, US Stocks Are Mixed

In a mixed session on Wednesday, Wall Street stocks tumbled with the markets digesting trade and employment data that suggested a slowdown in the economy.

‍

The number of new jobs created by employers last month was 145,000, according to payroll firm ADP, which is far less than the level of February and much less than analysts had expected.

‍

During the same period, US trade data showed evidence of a slight widening in the trade deficit in February, with both imports and exports falling as a result.

‍

According to Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare, the slowing economic activity is something the Federal Reserve is likely to be pleased to see, despite how it may be causing some concern in the stock market.

‍

This means that there could be a bit of a valuation headwind since analysts are yet to incorporate the weaker earnings outlook into their consensus estimates, which means there could be a bit of a weakening of the earnings outlook.

‍

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 33,486.25, up 0.3% about 15 minutes into trading.

‍

According to Nasdaq, the techno-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.6 percent to 12,056.12, while the broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.1 percent to 4,094.90.

‍

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 percent yesterday after Johnson & Johnson proposed a settlement of $8.9 billion to resolve decades-old lawsuits claiming its talcum powder products cause cancer. The settlement must be approved by US courts before it can become a reality.

‍