Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell sharply on Wednesday extending losses from the previous session amid a wave of mixed data and reports that Republican presidential candidate John Kasich is suspending his campaign, paving the way for frontrunner Donald Trump to win the GOP nomination.
The major indices remained under pressure in Wednesday's session, amid renewed concerns that a global economic slowdown is on the verge of resurfacing. Although the dollar bounced off near 9-month lows from the prior session, further gains were softened by relatively weak employment figures ahead of a critical jobs report from the Labor Department at week's end. In a monthly report, the ADP Research Institute said private payrolls rose by 156,000 in April, sharply below consensus estimates of 193,000. Over the first three months of the year, the labor market has added an average of 202,000 private jobs per month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 99.65 or 0.56% to 17,651.26, while the NASDAQ Composite index lost 37.58 or 0.79% to 4,725.64 on a bearish day for Wall Street. The NASDAQ closed lower for the second straight day after halting a 7-day losing streak on Monday. The S&P 500 Composite index, meanwhile, dipped 12.25 or 0.59% to 2,051.12, as eight of 10 sectors closed in the red. With the losses, the S&P 500 tested 2016-yearly lows before closing slightly positive for the year. Stocks in the Energy, Health Care and Industrials sectors lagged, each falling by more than 1%. Stocks in the Utilities and Industrials industries led.
Trump, the billionaire mogul, became the presumptive GOP nominee on Tuesday night after Senator Ted Cruz (R, Texas) pulled out of the campaign following a resounding defeat in the Indiana primary. While Trump's official position on Wall Street still remains unclear, the celebrity businessman has been critical of federal banking regulators over the last year, calling the landmark Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act disastrous. Hillary Clinton, Trump's likely opponent, has opposed efforts to repeal or weaken Dodd-Frank.
The top performer on the Dow was McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), which gained 1.07 or 0.83% to 129.47. Earlier, McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) shares surged to an all-time record high at 130.42 after a report from Eater.com surfaced that the fast-food giant could offer garlic fries at 250 restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area by August. The worst performer was Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 2.07 or 2.71% to 74.29. It came one day after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut its benchmark interest rate to a record-low of 1.75%, weighing on currencies and commodities exposed to the mining sector. Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer, is sensitive to volatility in the industry.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX), which added 0.71 or 3.63% to 20.15, amid bearish fundamental analysis from several top Wall Street firms. Shares in the data storage company bounced on Wednesday after falling below 20 to drop to fresh one-year lows. Seagate Technology has still lost approximately 25% in value since reporting subdued quarterly earnings last week. The worst performer was Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ:PCLN), which plunged 106.84 or 7.89% to 1,247.80. The top performer on the S&P 500 was Intercontinental Exchange Group Inc (NYSE:ICE), which surged 17.83 or 7.40% to 258.81. Priceline also finished as the worst performer, just below Under Armour Inc (NYSE:UA) which lost 3.21 or 7.51% to 39.52 after Chief Merchandising Officer Henry Stafford announced his departure from the company.
On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by a 1,846-1,207 margin.