(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished down on Wednesday as weaker-than-expected economic data spurred recovery fears.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 29.93 points or 0.32% to finish at 9,280.67. The S&P 500 retreated 3.29 points or 0.33% to end at 994.75. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 1.82 points or 0.09% to 1,967.07.
ADP survey on Wednesday reported that a total of 298,000 private-sector jobs were lost in May. Economists had projected a drop of 250,000 private sector jobs.
A release by Labor Department on Wednesday showed that non-farm productivity rose at a 6.6% annual rate during the second quarter versus the initially reported 6.4% pace.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that factory orders rose 1.3% in July. Economists expected orders to rise 2.2% in July.
The minutes from Fed showed that the central bankers though that the overall economic activity was starting to stabilize, but that the depth of the recession had been much worse than originally thought
Shares of Coca-Cola Inc. (NYSE:
KO) jumped $1.27 or 2.62% to close at $49.80.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:
CSCO) surged 38 cents or 1.79% to $21.55.
Among financials, JP Morgan (NYSE:
JPM) lost 81 cents or 1.94% to $40.86. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) tumbled 18 cents or 1.09% to $16.27.
Shares of Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:
INTC) lost 25 cents or 1.27% to $19.47.
Early on Wednesday, Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:
TTWO) reported that it swung to a third quarter net loss of $55.5 million, or 72 cents a share, compared with earnings of $51.8 million, or 67 cents a share, in the prior year period. Excluding the effect of stock-options charges and other one-time items, the company said it would have lost 66 cents a share for the recent period. Revenue plunged 68% to $138.6 million. Shares of the video game publisher soared 79 cents or 7.785 to $10.95.
Brown-Forman (NYSE:
BF-B) rallied $1.87 or 3.92% to $49.62 after it announced that first-quarter net income for the three months ended July 31 jumped 38% to $121.4 million, or 81 cents a share, from $88.2 million, or 58 cents a share, in the same period last year. Revenue dropped 7% to $738 million.
Joy Global (NASDAQ:
JOYG) reported that third quarter net income declined to $124.3 million, or $1.21 a share, for the quarter ended July 31, from $113.1 million, or $1.03 a share, in the year ago quarter. Revenue rose 5.8% to $956.4 million. Shares of the company slumped $1.70 or 4.56% to $35.44.
Danaher (NYSE:
DHR) announced Wednesday that it it has agreed to buy the life sciences instrumentation business from MDS Inc. (NYSE:
MDZ) for about $1.1 billion and cut 3,300 jobs along with 30 facilities as part of an ongoing restructuring program.Danaher rose $1.71 or 2.83% to $62.13.
Walgreens (NYSE:
WAG) announced Wednesday that its August same-store sales rose 1.9%. Shares of Walgreens finished at $33.81, down 23 cents or 0.68%.
European stocks settled lower. The UK FTSE slipped 2.15 points or 0.04% to 4,817.55.The German DAX and French CAC decreased 0.14% and 0.29% respectively.
Asian stocks finished lower. The Nikkei 225 slumped 249.60 points or 2.37% to 10,280.46. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong lost 350.30 points or 1.76% to 19,522.
NYMEX crude oil for October delivery declined 1 cent to settle at $68.04 a barrel.
Disclosure: Author doesn’t own any of the stocks discussed here.
