By Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stocks opened lower Wednesday, extending losses after the
Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its first quarterly loss in a
year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 128 points, or 0.7%, to
17648. The S&P 500 shed 14 points, or 0.7%, to 2053, and the
Nasdaq Composite lost 34 points, or 0.7%, to 4867.
Health-care stocks in the S&P 500 fell the most, down 1.3%.
Energy stocks rose along with the price of oil, up 0.7%. Crude-oil
futures added 0.8% to $48.00 a barrel.
A soft reading on private-sector employment in March added to
the negative tone. Private payrolls rose by 189,000 in March,
according to data compiled by payroll processor Automatic Data
Processing Inc. and forecasting firm Moody's Analytics. Economists
surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected an increase of
225,000 jobs. Later in the morning, readings on manufacturing and
construction spending are due.
"There's definitely been some kind of negative impact from the
weather" on the labor market," said Robert Pavlik, chief market
strategist at Boston Private Wealth LLC. That's adding to concerns
that Friday's employment report could miss expectations, though the
recovery in the labor market remains healthy, he added. Economists
surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect employers added 248,000
jobs in March.
Stocks fell Tuesday, pulling the Dow industrials into negative
territory for the first quarter. The S&P 500 eked out a
quarterly gain of 0.4% and the Nasdaq gained 3.5% in the period,
with both indexes notching their ninth quarter in a row of gains.
Still, the S&P's first-quarter advance was the smallest in
those nine quarters of gains amid soft U.S. economic performance at
the start of the year and concerns about first-quarter
earnings.
"Overall, the U.S. is in decent shape," said Laura LaRosa,
director of portfolio management at Glenmede. "We will probably
have positive returns this year, just not what we've seen in the
last couple of years, " she added.
European stocks were bolstered by better-than-expected data that
showed eurozone manufacturing activity in March grew at the fastest
pace in 10 months. Germany's DAX gained 0.7% and France's CAC 40
rose 1%.
"The valuations in Europe are much more attractive right now,"
said Ms. LaRosa of Glenmede, adding that European stocks will
likely outpace their U.S. counterparts this year.
The dollar took a breather, with the euro inching up to $1.0766
from $1.0735 on Tuesday.
In other markets, gold futures rose 1% to $1194.60 an ounce.
Treasury prices rose, pushing the 10-year yield down to 1.889% from
1.930% on Tuesday.
In corporate news, Macerich Co. rejected Simon Property Group
Inc.'s "best and final" bid, saying the offer undervalued the
company. Simon subsequently withdrew its $16.8 billion offer.
Macerich shares fell 4.8% and Simon shares slipped 0.4%.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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