The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both fell for a third straight session on Wednesday as investors remained concerned that the U.S. economic recovery is slowing. The Nasdaq also fell into negative territory by the end of the session, declining for the first session in five.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Fed's Beige Book shows that rising inflation, goods shortages are pressuring U.S. businesses:
According to the Federal Reserve's periodic Beige Book published Wednesday, U.S. businesses are currently experiencing rising inflation coupled by a shortage of goods, which will likely be shifted onto consumers.
The Fed reported that overall growth had "downshifted slightly to a moderate pace" as public health concerns driven by the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant has pressured the economy during the period of July through August.
"The deceleration in economic activity was largely attributable to a pullback in dining out, travel, and tourism in most districts, reflecting safety concerns due to the rise of the Delta variant, and, in a few cases, international travel restrictions," the Beige Book report said.
The report also noted that inflation is "steady at an elevated pace," with half of the central bank's 12 districts reporting "strong" pressure, while the other half said that inflation pressures were "moderate".
Job openings outnumber unemployment levels in July:
Job openings outnumbered unemployment levels by more than 2 million in July as companies struggled to fill positions amid a record number of vacancies, the Labor Department reported in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) published Wednesday.
The JOLTS report showed 10.9 million job openings for July, outpacing June's total of 10.18 million and topping estimates of 9.9 million from FactSet. Beneath the headline, the total level of those out of work and looking for jobs was 8.7 million for July. Moreover, the hires rate dipped lower for the month to 4.5% from 4.7%, while the quits rates was unchanged at 2.7% and the layoffs and discharges rate edged higher at 1%.
Based on industries, the leisure and hospitality sector saw the most monthly openings, with the rate increasing to 10.7% from 10.2% in July. Openings rose to 1.82 million for July, gaining 134,000 from June.
Here's how benchmarks started trading soon after market open:
S&P 500 Index: -0.10% or -4.48 points to 4,515.55
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.11% or +37.11 points to 35,137.11
Nasdaq Composite Index: -0.39% or -59.45 points to 15,314.88
