U.S. Stocks Lower As Economic Data Disappoints

U.S. stocks finished lower Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P pulling back from their recent record highs following some disappointing economic data.

Futures looked like they were going to open in the green in the pre-bell session, but turned mixed prior to the open after the government issued its monthly ADP report showing the economy added 158,000 private-sector jobs in March, well below the 205,000 consensus forecast of economists.

Losses accelerated following the release of the ISM services Index, which slightly missed the mark, adding to the negative tone. The ISM services number came in at 54.4, down from 56.0 in the prior month and contrasted to consensus forecasts for a more modest pull back to 55.5. The reading was the lowest since August, mirroring Monday's lower-than-expected ISM manufacturing data.

After this week's economic data came in mixed, all eyes are on Friday's employment report as the next major data point that will dictate market direction.

Commodities finished mostly lower. Oil shed 2.77% to close at $94.50 a barrel while gold lost 1.42% to end at $1,556.30 per ounce.

Here's Where The Markets Stood At Day's End

• Dow Jones Industrial Average down 111.66 (-0.76%) to 14,550.35
• S&P 500 down 16.56 (-1.05%) to 1,553.69
• Nasdaq Composite Index down 36.26 (-1.11%) to 3,218.60

• Nikkei 225 Index up 2.99%
• Hang Seng Index down 0.14%
• Shanghai China Composite Index down 0.12%
• FTSE 100 down 1.13%.
• DAX down 0.90%.
• CAC 40 down 1.32%.

• (+) MHR, Stock lifts after company announces it has signed a definitive agreement to sell all of its ownership interests in the Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas properties in Gonzales and Lavaca Counties of South Texas to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Penn Virginia Corporation (PVA) for a total purchase price of $401 million.
• (+) ASTX, Shares jump after company announced that it had had 13 abstracts on internal and pipeline-funded product data accepted for poster or oral presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting later this week.
• (+) JOSB, Stock rises after men's clothier reported FY12 earnings of $2.84 per share, versus the Capital IQ consensus of $2.81. Revenues were $1.05 billion, versus the analyst estimate of $1.07 billion. Combined comparable store and Internet sales for the year increased 2% when compared to FY11.
• (+) ZNGA, Surges following a report that the company is offering real money gambling in the UK.

• (-) MSPD, Shares take hit after the firm said it expected a shortfall in Q2 revenue, with Q2 net product revenue between $35.1 to $35.5 mln, compared with management's prior outlook for revenue to be approximately flat to up or down 2% versus total net product revenue in the fiscal first quarter of 2013 of $38.4 mln.
• (-) ELN, Shares drop following company's report that the Irish Takeover Panel has imposed an expected deadline of May 10 on Royalty Pharma. Following the firm's initial indication of interest announced on 25 February, it must now either make an offer for Elan or announce that it will not proceed with an offer by the May deadline, the Panel ruled.
• (-) GPN, Stock falls after the company reported late Tuesday Q3 earnings of $0.87 per share, missing the Capital IQ consensus of $0.89. Revenues of $578.7 million, however, beat the analyst estimate of $577.47 million. The company expects FY13 EPS $3.64 - $3.71 on revenues of $2.36 billion -$2.40 billion. The Street view is EPS of $3.70 on revenues of $2.40 billion.