by Herbert Lash and Shreyashi Sanyal
(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Wednesday, ahead of a vote on the U.S. debt in Congress and as job openings data raised concerns that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will not raise interest rates further in June.
The Dow Jones index fell -0.41% or 134.51 points to 32,908.27 points.
The broader S&P-500 lost 25.69 points, or -0.61%, to 4,179.83 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell by 82.14 points (-0.63%) to 12,935.29 points.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote Wednesday night on the bill to suspend the U.S. debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025, a crucial step to avoid a default.
If the text is passed in Parliament, it will be sent to the Senate, where debates could continue over the weekend as the June 5 deadline approaches.
However, most analysts believe the law will pass, and US President Joe Biden has already said he expects the text to reach him by Monday.
“The bond market appreciates some fiscal discipline and the stock market appreciates that it doesn’t hurt growth,” said Brad Conger, deputy chief investment officer at Hirtle Callaghan & Co.
“I don’t think we could have hoped for a better result.”
Data released today by the Labor Department showed job vacancies rose in April, underscoring the resilience of the US labor market, raising fears that the Federal Reserve may be forced to raise interest rates further in June.
Traders estimate a nearly 70% chance of a quarter-point rate hike in two weeks.
By value, Advance Auto Parts ended in the red after downgrading its forecast for the year.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise also ended lower after posting second-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ expectations.
Nvidia pulled back after briefly crossing the $1 trillion market cap threshold on Tuesday.
Intel, for its part, rose after indicating that its second-quarter revenue was likely to be at the upper end of its forecast range.
(Reporting by Herbert Lash, with contributions by Shreyashi Sanyal and Shashwat Chauhan; French version by Camille Raynaud)
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