After moving modestly lower at the open, stocks have shown a sharp move to the downside over the course of morning trading on Wednesday. The major averages have all slid firmly into negative territory, partly offsetting the gains posted in the four previous sessions.
Much of the weakness on Wall Street stems from yet another disappointing batch of U.S. economic data, including reports showing much weaker than expected private sector job growth as well as a significant slowdown in the pace of growth in the manufacturing sector.
Banking stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 2.8 percent loss by the KBW Bank Index. The index has offset the gains posted in the three previous sessions and is on pace to end the day at a nearly six-month closing low.
Significant weakness has also emerged among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent loss being shown by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index. Housing, wireless, and airline stocks are also posting steep losses, moving lower along with most of the major sectors.
The major averages have seen some further downside in recent trading, falling to new lows for the session. The Dow is currently down 162.49 points or 1.3 percent at 12,407.30, the Nasdaq is down 24.57 points or 0.9 percent at 2,810.73 and the S&P 500 is down 17.04 points or 1.3 percent at 1,328.16.
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