Wall Street closed lower after a rocky session on Wednesday as gains
in consumer staples and healthcare were offset by a sharp drop in Amazon
shares and a continuing slide in technology stocks.
All three
major US indexes ended the day in negative territory following Tuesday's
late-session tech-driven sell-off following Monday's rally as traders
moved to defensive stocks after recent weeks' heightened volatility.
"People
should expect what's happening given the kind of volatility we've seen
as well as the fact that we're kind of in a news vacuum prior to
quarterly earnings," Chuck Carlson, chief executive at Horizon
Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana, said. "It's a market that's
really looking for the next leadership."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.29 points, or
0.04 percent, to 23,848.42, the S&P 500 lost 7.62 points, or 0.29
percent, to 2,605 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 59.58 points, or 0.85
percent, to 6,949.23.
Online
retailer Amazon.com was down as much as 6.7 percent, losing more than
USD 53 billion in market value after a report that President Donald
Trump indicated he wanted to rein in the company. The stock later pared
its loses to end the day down 4.4 percent.
Shares of automaker
Tesla slumped 7.7 percent, extending recent losses, following a credit
downgrade and news that officials are investigating a fatal crash and
fire in California.
Countering those losses were gains for consumer staples , real estate , telecom , and healthcare .
The
S&P Energy index posted the biggest loss of the 11 major S&P
sectors, ending 1.99 percent lower as crude prices fell after data
showed a surprise build in US stocks.
The markets shrugged off a
report from the US Commerce Department that the US economy slowed less
than previously reported in the fourth quarter as consumer spending grew
at its fastest quarterly pace in three years. GDP expanded at a 2.9
percent annual rate in the last three months of 2017, ahead of the
previously reported 2.5 percent.
Strong economic data could invite
a more hawkish approach by the US Federal Reserve this year with
respect to further interest rate hikes.
"I'm not surprised by the
economic data," said Carlson. "But the market right now is looking past
that from a valuation standpoint."
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon