Investing.com – Wall St closed lower on Wednesday, as energy stocks weighed, after oil prices slumped more than 5% while investors digested a better than expected ADP report ahead of Non-farm payrolls.
Energy stocks were the main laggards of the session, as oil posted its worst day in 13 months, after crude oil inventories rose much larger than expected.
Meanwhile, a bullish ADP report boosted expectations the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates at its next meeting in March and lifted optimism for a better than expected Nonfarm Payrolls print on Friday.
ADP and Moody’s analytics said Wednesday, employment in the private sector climbed by 298,000 for the month, which dwarfed economists’ expectations of 190,000.
According to Investing.com’s Fed rate monitor tool, nearly 90% of traders expect a rate hike in March, compared to just under 80% last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.33% lower at 20,855.73. The S&P 500 shed 0.12% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.06% to close at 5,837. The Dow closed lower for a third straight session.
In corporate earnings news, Urban Outfitters Inc (NASDAQ:URBN) shares slumped to a 14-month low of $22.87 intraday, after the retailer revealed earnings of $0.55 per share against estimates of earnings of $0.56 per share.
The top S&P 500 gainers included H&R Block Inc (NYSE:HRB) up 14.9%, and TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) up 6.1%, while PPG Industries Inc (NYSE:PPG) added 1.6%.
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) down 8.7%, Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) down 6.7% and Deep Value (NYSE:DVP) slumped 6.5%, were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.