NEW YORK, New York - The sharp two-day rally kicked off the start of October and came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday.
Stocks were struggling to get into the black, but found the weight of sellers too much to overcome.
It's a moment of pause for the market to reflect on how durable the rally the past two days could turn out to be, said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment strategist for BMO Wealth Management.
The market is making the assessment that it's going to take a lot for the Fed to make a dovish pivot. The JOLTS number was very welcome, and there was no question about that. That is the tip of the iceberg in terms of what the Fed needs to take a softer tone. There's a reality creeping into the market, and the enthusiasm of a good number is starting to fade, Ma said.
The Dow Jones industrials fell by 42.45 points or 0.14 percent to close Wednesday at 30,273. The Nasdaq Composite fell 27.77 points or 0.25 percent to 11,148. The Standard and Poor's 500 finished 7.65 points or 0.20 percent lower at 3,783. The U.S. dollar was higher Wednesday. The euro, which was close to parity earlier in the day, wilted to trade at 0.9884 around New York on Wednesday. The British pound was trading down at 1.1317, down from 1.1500 when it was close to 1.1500. The Japanese yen has softened to 144.57. The Swiss franc was able to keep pace with the Swiss franc at 0.9834.
The Australian dollar was little changed at 6501. The New Zealand dollar was higher at 0.5740 after a 50 basis points interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand earlier in the day. The Canadian dollar decreased to 1.3611 on the back of the dollar.
The German Dax lost 1.21 percent of its value on overseas equity markets. The Paris-based CAC 40 was down 0.90 percent. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.17 percent in London.
New Zealand's S&P NZX 50 jumped by 89.98 points or 0.81 percent to 11,180. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 128.32 points or 0.48 percent to n 27,120. The Australian All Ordinaries increased by 125.60 points or 1.82 percent to 7,030. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 992.28 points, or 5.81 percent, to 992.28 in Asia.
The Kospi Composite in Seoul, South Korea went up 5.84 points or 0.26 percent to 2,215.