The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Wednesday as Wall Street awaits an afternoon speech on the economy from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The index lost 139 points, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 shed 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.3%.
Traders were hit with conflicting economic signals Wednesday morning.
Payroll processing firm ADP said Wednesday that private companies added just 127,000 positions for the month, well below the 190,000 consensus estimate from economists polled by Dow Jones. It signaled the job market could be cooling, raising hopes the Federal Reserve would slow its aggressive rate-hiking campaign.
Jobs opening data from the Labor Department released later Wednesday showed the number of openings falling and coming in below expectations. On top of that, home sales declined for the fifth consecutive month, according to data from the National Association of retailers.
But the Bureau of Economic Analysis also said…
