U.S. Stocks Trade Mixed as Dow Slides Nearly 500 Points; ISM Services PMI Surges to Two-Month High

Wall Street ended unevenly with tech shares lifting the Nasdaq while blue chips tumbled. Traders digested softer jobs data, a rebound in services activity and rising Treasury prices.

The Nasdaq rose 37.10 points (0.2%) to 23,584.27 but the S&P 500 fell 23.89 points (0.3%) to 6,920.93 and the Dow slid 466.00 points (0.9%) to 48,996.08.

Wall Street saw choppy trading as investors paused to gauge the recent market strength that propelled the Dow and S&P 500 to new record highs on Tuesday. Traders assessed mixed U.S. economic data, with ADP reporting a smaller-than-expected 41,000 gain in private sector jobs for December and the Labor Department noting a steeper decline in November job openings.

Attention now turns to Fridays December employment report, with forecasts calling for a 60,000 job increase and a slight dip in the unemployment rate to 4.5%. Meanwhile, the ISM Services PMI surprised to the upside, rising to 54.4 in December its highest since October 2024 signaling renewed strength in the U.S. service sector.

Housing stocks moved sharply lower, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 2.6%. Interest rate-sensitive utilities stocks also came under pressure as the day progressed, resulting in a 2.3% slump by the Dow Jones Utility Average. Telecom, financial and oil service stocks saw considerable weakness while pharmaceutical, biotechnology and software stocks showed strong moves to the upside.

Asia-Pacific stocks turned in a mixed performance. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.1%, while China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by 0.1% and South Korea's Kospi climbed by 0.6%. The major European markets also moved in opposite directions on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9%, the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7%.

In the bond market, treasuries moved notably higher in reaction to the latest U.S. economic data. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, slid 4.1 bps to 4.13%.

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