Thomson Reuters
- US stocks sagged Wednesday on concerns US economic growth is slowing down.
- The Federal Reserve's snapshot of economic conditions nationwide is on tap.
- Bitcoin slipped after Tuesday's plunge during El Salvador's rollout of the cryptocurrency as legal tender.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
US stocks fell Wednesday, extending Tuesday's declines on mounting concerns that recovery in the world's largest economy from the shock of the pandemic is slowing down.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back after suffering a 267-point loss in the previous session while the Nasdaq Composite slipped from its record high.
Stock investors have been showing some caution after last week's US August jobs report, with the 235,000 job additions falling fall short of expectations. The data prompted Goldman Sachs' economists on Tuesday to cut their US growth forecast for 2021 for the second time in a month.
Investors will get a fresh read on economic conditions across the country at 2 pm Eastern Time with the Federal Reserve's so-called Beige Book. The report characterizes changes in economic conditions across its 12 districts.
Here's where US indexes stood at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday:
- S&P 500: 4,512.16, down 0.17%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 35,010.33, down 0.26% (89.67 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 15,352.74, down 0.14%
The Fed in its last update in June saw the economy expand at a modest pace, with several districts citing positive effects from increased vaccination rates and loosened social distancing measures. But they also reported adverse impacts of supply chain disruptions.
The Fed will hold a two-day meeting starting on September 21 and will release its summary of economic projections, or its dot-plot chart of interest-rate expectations.
Around the markets, Coinbase shares fell, with the Securities and Exchange Commission planning to sue the crypto exchange if it releases its lending product, a move that led CEO Brian Armstrong to complain about the regulator's "sketchy behavior".
Gold rose 0.4% to $1,800.18 per ounce. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note slipped to 1.35%.
Oil prices climbed. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.3% to $69.22 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, gained 1%, to $72.39 per barrel.
Bitcoin slipped 0.4% to $46,626.93 after plunging Tuesday during El Salvador's rocky rollout of the cryptocurrency as legal tender.