Stocks moved sharply lower early in the trading session on Wednesday but have shown a significant recovery attempt over the course of the day. The major averages have all climbed well off their lows of the session.
Currently, the major averages are lingering near the unchanged line. The S&P 500 is up 1.52 points or less than 0.1 percent at 3,663.97, while the Dow is down 32.30 points or 0.1 percent at 29,791.62 and the Nasdaq is down 5.97 points or 0.1 percent at 12,349.14.
The early weakness on Wall Street came after the rally seen in the previous session lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs.
Traders looked to cash in on yesterday's gains amid lingering concerns about the economic impact of the recent spike in new coronavirus cases.
Negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by less than expected in the month of November.
ADP said private sector employment rose by 307,000 jobs in November after climbing by an upwardly revised 404,000 jobs in October.
Economists had expected employment to increase by 410,000 jobs compared to the addition of 365,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
"While November saw employment gains, the pace continues to slow," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute.
On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched employment report, which includes both public and private sector jobs.
Selling pressure waned over the course of the morning, however, as traders remain optimistic about potential coronavirus vaccines.
The U.K. has approved the vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX), with the vaccine expected to be rolled out next week.
Later in the day, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in the twelve Fed districts.
Sector News
Despite the recovery attempt by the broader markets, housing stocks continue to see significant weakness in mid-day trading, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index slumping by 1.9 percent.
Notable weakness also remains visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent drop by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index.
Salesforce (CRM) continues to post a steep loss after the cloud-based software company announced an agreement to acquire messaging platform Slack (WORK) for $27.7 billion.
On the other hand, energy stocks have moved sharply higher on the day, benefiting from an increase by the price of crude oil. Crude for January delivery is jumping $1.04 to $45.59 a barrel.
Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is up by 5 percent, the NYSE Arca Oil Index is up by 4.3 percent and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index is up by 3.5 percent.
Computer hardware stocks have also shown a strong move to the upside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index climbing by 1.4 percent to a record intraday high.
NetApp (NTAP) is leading the sector higher after the enterprise storage company reported fiscal second quarter results that beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region ended Wednesday's trading little changed. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has jumped by 1.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved to the downside over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2 basis points at 0.954 percent.
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