Wall Street sees modest profit-taking

NEW YORK: Wall Street ended modestly lower Wednesday as the market consolidated recent gains, largely shrugging off a plunge in Chinese shares and weaker-than-expected data from the US factory sector.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 26.00 points (0.29 per cent) to end at 9,070.72, as indexes pared losses late in the day. The Nasdaq composite dipped 7.75 points (0.39 per cent) to 1,967.76 and the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 drifted down 4.47 points (0.46 per cent) to 975.15.

Bob Dickey at RBC Wealth Management said the market still has positive momentum after gains of more than 40 per cent from lows hit earlier this year. “There is no doubt in our minds that the current market trend is up until further notice,” he said.

The New York market opened weaker after a stunning decline in China, where the main stock index fell 5.0 per cent in the worst session of the year. The drop “got plenty of people’s attention since China seems to be everyone’s bastion of growth hope these days,” said Patrick O’Hare at Briefing.com.

In data Wednesday, the Commerce Department reported new orders for US manufactured durable goods fell 2.5 per cent in June after two months of increases. But Peter Morici, economist at the University of Maryland, said the trend was positive when excluding volatile aircraft and transport orders.

“Today’s durable goods numbers are more encouraging than advertised,” he said. “The core stayed solid ...The private sector is revving up for recovery.” President Barack Obama said meanwhile he sees “the beginning of the end of the recession,” as economic indicators and comments from the Federal Reserve suggested stabilisation after a brutal slump.