A surprise drop in private-sector jobs ahead of the key non-farm payroll data pushed stocks on Wall Street down, though energy shares were higher as oil futures hit a 17-month high.Official backing for more offshore drilling also lifted energy stocks, tho
A surprise drop in private-sector jobs ahead of the key non-farm payroll data pushed stocks on Wall Street down, though energy shares were higher as oil futures hit a 17-month high.
Official backing for more offshore drilling also lifted energy stocks, though fears of the impact on higher petrol prices sent consumer stocks tumbling late in the session.
Earlier, payroll giant Automatic Data Processors said private sector jobs dropped 23,000 this month, while economists had expected an increase by 50,000.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 50.79 points, or 0.5%, lower at 10,856.63. Still, the index finished the March quarter in positive territory, with a gain of more than 4% over the past three months.
Boeing, which was been the Dow's strongest component this quarter, was its worst performer today with a drop of 1.2%. Home Depot was also weak, down 0.9%, along with Merck, which fell 0.7%.
Chevron jumped 1% after the unveiling of a new offshore-drilling strategy that expands oil and natural gas exploration off the Atlantic, eastern Gulf of Mexico and northern shores of Alaska.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5% to 2397.96, after being ahead for much of the session, while the S&P 500 eased 0.3% to 1169.43. The energy and financial sectors led the gains, while consumer companies dragged.
Other markets
European stocks closed mostly lower as concerns over Greece's widening debt spreads continued to rattle investors' nerves ahead of the Easter break.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.30 point, or 0.1% to 263.57. The UK's FTSE 100 index rose 7.32 points, or 0.1%, to 5679.64, France's CAC-40 index declined 13.40 points, or 0.3%, to 3974.01 and Germany's DAX rose 11.10 points, or 0.2%, to 6153.55.
Asian shares were mostly lower, dragged down by weaker materials and technologyshares.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index edged down 0.1% to 11,089.94 after earlier touching an 18-month intraday high on the last day of the fiscal year.
Despite a weaker yen, technology shares were down for much of the session, with TDK losing 1.0% and Trend Micro shedding 1.5%. Tire maker Bridgestone fell 0.3% after news it plans to build its second new tyre plant in India. In the auto sector, Toyota shares lost 0.7% but Mazda added 4.8%.
Korea's Kospi lost 0.4% to 1692.85, China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index both fell 0.6% to 3109.11 and 21,239.35 respectively. India's Sensex was down 0.35% to 17,527.77.
Singapore’s Straits Times index was down 1.6% to 2887.46 and Australia’s S&P/ASX was down 0.8% to 4875.52.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Oil futures rose to 17-month highs, fuelled by a declining dollar and despite rising gasoline inventories.
Light, sweet crude oil for May delivery settled $US1.39, or 1.7%, higher at $US83.76 a barrel in New York, its highest point for the day. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $US1.42, or 1.8%, higher at $US82.70 a barrel.
Gold prices extended gains seen overnight after the softer-than-forecast private-sector payroll report.
The most-active June gold futures contract settled $US8.80, or 0.8%, higher at $US1114.50 an ounce in New York. Nearby April gold also climbed $US8.80 to $US1113.30.
Currencies: Dollar down, euro up
The US dollar fell while the euro and other rival currencies gained. The euro reached a session high at $US1.3544, its highest level since March 23.
The dollar dropped below the ¥93.00 mark, although it subsequently recovered.
The euro was at $US1.3527 from $US1.3415 late on Tuesday. The euro was at ¥126 from ¥124.53.
The dollar was at ¥93.41 from ¥92.80 and at 1.0506 Swiss francs from 1.0668 francs.
The pound was at $US1.5187 from $US1.5070.
