The Nation's Chain Stores
Stocks slipped Wednesday, ending a choppy session lower following the previous day's battering as nervous investors continued to worry that the market rally may have outpaced any recovery.The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 30 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 (SPX) index slid 3 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) managed a tiny gain of 2 points, or 0.2%.
Stocks seesawed throughout the session Wednesday as investors mulled a pair of unemployment reports that signaled the pace of job cuts was moderating, ahead of Friday's bigger August jobs report.
With little else on tap to provoke investors in any direction, trading remained largely rangebound.
The 2 p.m. ET release of the minutes from the last Fed meeting failed to propel markets in either direction. The minutes showed the central bankers thought the economy was stabilizing, after weakening in 2008 and early 2009, and that construction was starting to pick up, which is a good sign for the housing market.
The bankers also discussed the need to keep refining the Fed's so-called exit strategy after injecting billions into the financial system to help manage the meltdown.
"Investors have built in a lot of the numbers we've been seeing showing economic improvement," said Haag Sherman, managing director at Salient Partners. "What they want to see now is some of that improvement manifesting in topline growth for businesses, not just cost cutting."
Second-quarter earnings were generally better than expected, due to trimming costs, but revenue growth was moderate.
Thursday preview: The nation's chain stores will be releasing August sales info throughout the morning. Investors will be looking to see if the stock rally and signs of recovery in the economy have had any impact on consumer spending.
The Institute for Supply Management's services sector index for August is also due in the morning, along with the weekly jobless claims report.
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