The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 31,270.09 on Wednesday with a loss of 121.43 points or -0.39%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,819.72 for a loss of 50.57 points or -1.31%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 12,997.75 for a loss of 361.04 points or -2.70%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 26.67 for a gain of 2.57 points or 10.66%.
Wednesday's Market Movers
The major U.S. indexes ended lower for a second day. February new private sector payrolls from ADP were below expectations at 117,000 versus consensus predictions of 155,000. Private sector payrolls also showed a decrease from January's increase of 195,000.
Treasuries were higher for the day as investors watched risk-off trades. The 30-year Treasury yield increased to 2.275% from 2.196% and the 10-year Treasury yield increased to 1.484% from 1.405%.
In other news:
- The MBA Mortgage Applications Index increased 0.5% following a decrease of -11.4%. The MBA's average 30-year mortgage rate increased to 3.23% from 3.08%.
- The Markit Composite PMI increased to 59.5 in February from 58.7.
- The ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI decreased to 55.3 in February from 58.7. Separately, the ISM Non-Manufacturing New Orders Index decreased to 51.9 from 61.8, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index decreased to 55.5 from 59.9, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Prices Index increased to 71.8 from 64.2, and the ISM Non-Manufacturing Employment Index decreased to 52.7 from 55.2.
- Crude oil inventory increased by 21.6 million barrels, according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
- The Treasury held an auction for 119-day bills at a rate of 0.050%
- February total vehicle sales decreased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15.7 million from 16.6 million.
- The Fed's Beige Books showed modest economic expansion and optimism from businesses over vaccine effects. Federal Reserve officials have continued to be dovish on monetary policy changes and rate increases in comments this week.
Across the board:
- The S&P 500 energy sector gained 1.47% as southern energy companies continued their resurgence following weather challenges.
- Vroom's (VRM, Financial) stock was down -8.29% with its earnings report. Revenue of $405.83 million beat estimates by $4.63 million. Q4 GAAP EPS of -$0.46 missed estimates by $0.08 and non-GAAP EPS of -$0.44 missed estimates by $0.07.
- Alphabet's (GOOGL, Financial) was down -2.57% after a report that the company will stop selling ads that are programmed based on a user's browsing history.
- Dollar Tree (DLTR, Financial) gained 2.96% with earnings. Revenue of $6.77 billion increased 7.1% year over year and was in-line with estimates. Q4 GAAP EPS of $2.13 beat estimates by $0.03 and non-GAAP EPS of $2.13 beat estimates by $0.01.
Small-Cap Stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 2,207.79 for a loss of 23.72 points or -1.06%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,297.47 for a gain of 2.79 points or 0.22%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 14,728.53 for a loss of 357.76 points or -2.37%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 10,567.94 for a gain of 94.37 points or 0.90%.
Other Notable Indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,507.84 for a loss of 21.29 points or -0.84%; the S&P 100 at 1,733.59 for a loss of 24.15 points or -1.37%; the Nasdaq 100 at 12,683.33 for a loss of 376.62 points or -2.88%; the Russell 3000 at 2,304.69 for a loss of 33.57 points or -1.44%; the Russell 1000 at 2,160.30 for a loss of 32.10 points or -1.46%; the Wilshire 5000 at 40,227.09 for a loss of 562.89 points or -1.38%; and the Dow Jones US Select Dividend Index at 771.90 for a gain of 4.86 points or 0.63%.
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