U.S. stocks traded lower on Wednesday as investors weighed a series of economic data ahead of Friday's employment report that could shed light on the timing of an interest rate hike.
The decline "is a combination of three days in a row of data that's not terrible but it's not good, and heading into the big jobs report," said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade. "We're right off all-time highs. (The big question is) can we rally back and close above 2,100?"
The S&P 500 traded just under 2,100 as all sectors except health care declined. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 150 points before recovering to trade about 130 points lower, with most blue chips lagging.
The Fed's Beige Book released Wednesday afternoon showed optimism on an expanding economy in most regions, with some pressure from energy and winter weather. The report also said there are some wage hikes in separate industries.
"I think it's a friendly survey, but the market's not reacting at this time," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. "For the markets, it's probably a non-event."
