Investing.com – Wall Street struggled for direction on Wednesday as investors shrugged of data that showed the economy grew higher than expected in the third quarter.
The S&P 500 was down seven points or 0.29% to 2,604.98.88 as of 9:42 AM ET (13:42 GMT) while the Dow composite decreased 20 points or 0.09% to 23,837.12 and tech heavy NASDAQ Composite fell 73 points or 1.05% to 6,935.20.
The U.S. economy grew at a faster pace than initially thought in the fourth quarter, according to data released on Wednesday. Gross domestic product grew by 2.9%, up from 2.5%, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate.
The data was offset by increased trade worry and concern over increased regulation in the technology sector.
Trade concerns have returned after the Chinese state run Global Times reported that Beijing would soon announce a full list of tariffs on U.S. imports to retaliate to planned U.S. levies.
Increased scrutiny on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) over the misuse of user data has also lead to a slump in tech stocks. The Federal Trade Commission on Monday confirmed it is investigating how the social media giant handles user data. Facebook has faced criticism after a third-party app was used to target 50 million users without their knowledge and CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg agreed on Tuesday to testify before Congress over the data leak.
The firm rallied 0.40% after the morning bell. Elsewhere Top Ships Inc (NASDAQ:TOPS) gained 4.70% while BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE:BB) rose 3.79% and Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ:LULU) surged 7.37% after its earnings results came in better than expected.
Meanwhile Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell 4.60% after news that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to “go after” the online retailer by changing its tax status. Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) was down 1.62% while Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) decreased 1.47% and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) dipped 5.08% amid reports that it was being investigated after a fatal car crash last week.
In Europe stocks were down. In Germany the DAX fell 93 points or 0.78% while France’s CAC 40 decreased 24 points or 0.47% and in London the FTSE 100 was down half a point or 0.01%. Meanwhile Spain’s IBEX 35 dipped six points or 0.07% and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 incheddown 11 points or 0.36%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.69% to $1,332.80 a troy ounce while crude oil futures decreased 1.24% to $64.44 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rallied 0.56% to 89.46.