NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks initially extended their rally on Wednesday but in the end sellers got the upper hand.
Yesterday and today strike me as a typical relief rally after the really aggressive downside from last week, according to Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird, told CNBC Wednesday.
We tried to find out where the actual bottom of the bear market is, but nothing meaningful has changed. The Dow Jones fell 47.12 points or 0.15 percent to 30,483. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 16.22 points or 0.15 percent to 11,053. The Standard and Poor's 500 slipped 4.90 points or 0.13 percent to 3,759. The U.S. dollar lost steam Wednesday. The euro was back to 1.0567 at the New York close. The British pound increased to 1.2263. The Japanese yen was slightly higher at 136.33. The Swiss franc edged up to 0.9618.
The Australian dollar was up to 0.6931. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.88 p recent on overseas equity markets in London. In Germany, the Dax was off 1.11 percent. The CAC 40 retreated 0.91 percent in Paris, France.
The biggest loser percentage-wise on Wednesday was South Korea's Kospi Composite, which plunged 66.12 points or 2.74 percent to 2,342 on Asian markets. Not far behind was the Hang Seng in Hong Kong, which closed down 551.25 points or 2.56 percent at 21,008. The Nikkei 225 fell to 26,149 in Japan by 96.76 points or 0.37 percent. Australia's All Ordinaries retreated 18.80 points or 0.28 percent to 6,682. The Shanghai Composite fell 39.52 points or 1.20 percent to 3,267 in China. New Zealand's S&P NZX 50 dropped 22.92 points or 0.21 percent to 10,678.