Stocks close mixed: Dow up a 3rd day; S&P drops
Stocks closed mixed in volatile trading Wednesday as oil prices broke a four-day rally and plunged almost 9% on a jump in crude supplies.
Investors pulled back amid concerns over a mixed batch of economic and earnings reports and news that the European Central Bank lifted a waiver on using Greek debt as collateral. News of the ECB news sent stocks lower in the last hour of trading.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 6.62 points, or 0.04%, to 17,673.02. The small gain helped push the Dow to a 3-day winning streak after rising more then 500 points in the two previous sessions.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 8.52, or 0.4%, to 2041.51 and the Nasdaq composite index fell 11.03, or 0.2% to 4716.70.
U.S. crude fell $4.60, or 8.7%, to settle at $48.45 a barrel in New York.
"I think there's a sense of uneasiness and lack of conviction among investors right now," said Terry Sandven, senior equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "You see that in the split personality of the market."
Over the past six trading days, the market has turned in three gains and three losses. Sandven said the volatility is tied to uncertainty over corporate earnings. Falling oil prices and a stronger dollar have pinched companies' profits, forcing investors to second-guess their expectations.
Trading was lackluster and stocks bounced around after the release of a mixed bag of economic reports.
• The labor market cooled off a bit to begin 2015, payroll processor ADP said Wednesday, as businesses added a still-solid 213,000 jobs in January.
Economists estimated the report would show 223,000 new private sector jobs. They expect 235,000 payroll gains in the Labor Department's closely watched survey this Friday of the private- and public-sectors.
• Service-sector activity grew more rapidly than expected in January but a measure of employment fell sharply, a report Wednesday said.
The survey by the Institute for Supply Management thus provided mixed signals for Friday's closely-watched jobs report.
An index of service industries rose to 56.7 from 56.5 in December, above the 56.4 economists expected based on a consensus forecast.
A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding, while below 50 means it's contracting.
In corporate news:
• Office supply chain Staples agreed to buy its sole remaining competitor, Office Depot, in a $6.3 billion deal that would create one mega-office supply chain.
But shares of Staples (SPLS) dropped 12% on the news amid concerns of anti-trust opposition to the deal. Office Depot (ODP) rose 2%.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei 225 index surged 2% to 17,678.74 on gains in energy company shares and expectations for strong corporate earnings reports. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.5% and the Shanghai Composite fell 1%.
China's central bank said Wednesday it was reducing the amount most of China's commercial banks are required to hold in reserves by at least 0.5% of their deposits. It gave no indication how much additional money would be available for lending as a result of that.
European benchmarks indexes were mixed. France's CAC 40 climbed 0.4% and Germany's DAX ended 0.2% higher. Britain's FTSE 100 ended down 0.2%.
Contributing: Kaja Whitehouse, Jane Onyanga-Omara; Associated Press.