Stocks declined on Wednesday after rallying earlier this week, as investors continued to monitor developments in Ukraine after Russia pledged to lower its military activity near Kyiv. The Nasdaq underperformed on Wednesday, falling over 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index slipped 0.2% and 0.6% lower.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Q4 U.S. GDP revised down to 6.9% annualized rate:
The U.S. economy expanded at a slightly slower rate than previously reported in the final months of 2021, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reports in its final revision on fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
U.S. GDP rose at a 6.9% annualized rate quarter-over-quarter in the final three months of 2021, the BEA said Wednesday. Previously, GDP growth was reported at 7.0%.
The downward revision was due to the BEA cutting its measure of personal consumption ot show a 2.5% rate in the fourth quarter, down from the 3.1% rate previously reported. Consumer spending makes up about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.
Private payrolls slightly exceeded expectations in March:
U.S. private sector employers added slightly more jobs than expected in March as hiring remained strong despite signs of a tightening labor market.
Payrolls rose by 455,000 in March, payroll processing firm ADP said in its latest report published Wednesday. Consensus economists were looking for 450,000 jobs. The total was slightly below February's upwardly revised print of 486,000 and brought ADP's first quarter jobs count to 1.45 million.
ADP's report comes two days before the Labor Department's monthly report--considered the "official" report--which is also expected to show about half a million payrolls for March.
Here's how benchmarks started trading after market open:
S&P 500 Index: -0.18% or -8.17 points to 4,623.43
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.10% or -40.27 points to 35,259.91
Nasdaq Composite Index: -0.32% or -46.91 points to 14,569.93
