US stocks halt 4-day winning run

NEW YORK: US stocks stumbled Wednesday as cautious investors locked in profits after hefty gains in the last four sessions and as new data underscored a weak job market in the recession-battered economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 65.63 points (0.75 per cent) to end at 8,675.24 after an 11th hour rebound helped the blue chip index pare its triple-digit loss. The tech-rich Nasdaq fell 10.88 points (0.59 per cent) to 1,825.92 and the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 12.98 points (1.37 per cent) to 931.76.

As the market opened Wednesday, investors moved to book profits from recent gains after data showed continuing big layoffs and a fall in mortgage applications in the battered housing sector.

A fall in oil prices from seven-month peaks after the US government reported a buildup in inventories also dampened stocks that had been rising in tandem with the commodity in recent days. “Participants are stopping to catch their breath after a nearly 6.0 per cent gain in just the last four trading sessions,” said Briefing.com’s Patrick O’Hare.

A survey by payrolls firm ADP showed Wednesday that the US private sector shed 532,000 jobs in May. The decline in the May non-farm private employment figure was less steep than the revised 545,000 in April but slightly higher than the 525,000 job losses expected by most analysts. The US Mortgage Bankers Association also said Wednesday mortgage applications fell 16.1 per cent for the week ended May 29, following a drop of 14.2 per cent for the prior week. -- AFP