NEW YORK: US stocks on Wednesday ended mostly lower after markets weighed a stream of generally solid economic data ahead of Friday's big jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 24.85 points (0.16 percent) at 15,889.77. The broad-based SandP 500 fell 2.34 points (0.13 percent) to 1,792.81 while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index inched up 0.80 point (0.02 percent) to 4,038.00.
Markets were in negative territory most of the day after payrolls firm ADP reported strong jobs growth, the US trade deficit declined and October new-home sales notched a 25.4 percent rise compared with the prior month.
On the downside, the Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers index for service sector activity fell to 53.9, below the 55 consensus estimate.
But markets pared losses after the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book report, which painted a generally good picture of the economy in the wake of October's partial government shutdown.
Analysts are awaiting Friday's monthly jobs report, which could signal whether the Federal Reserve is likely to accelerate a plan to scale back its bond-buying program.
Anthony Conroy, head of global trading at Bank of New York Convergex, said traders are in "more of a profit-taking mood" in anticipation a Fed taper, most likely early in 2014.
"Everybody is looking to every datapoint trying to get a sense of what the Fed is going to do," Conroy said.
Conroy does not expect major market swings before the Fed winds up its next policy meeting on December 18.
Agriculture equipment manufacturer Deere and Co. rose 3.2 percent after announcing it was boosting its share buyback program by US$8 billion.
Retailer JC Penney fell 4.5 percent despite reporting a 10.1 percent jump in comparable-store sales in November over last year. Sterne Agee called the sales a "step in the right direction," but said the result was "certainly not heroic" in light of aggressive promotions.
Apparel retailer Express plummeted 23 percent after projecting fourth-quarter earnings of 66-71 cents per share, well below the 78 cents seen by analysts
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