By Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stock futures fell Wednesday, extending losses after the
Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its first quarterly loss in a
year.
S&P 500 futures slipped nine points, or 0.4%, to 2052.
E-mini Dow futures fell 70 points, or 0.4%, to 17633, and e-mini
Nasdaq-100 futures lost 16 points, or 0.4%, to 4314.
Stock futures remained lower after a soft reading on
private-sector employment last month. Private payrolls rose by just
189,000 in March, according to data compiled by payroll processor
Automatic Data Processing Inc. and forecasting firm Moody's
Analytics. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had
expected an increase of 225,000. Later in the morning, readings on
manufacturing and construction spending are also due.
Stocks fell Tuesday, pulling the Dow industrials into negative
territory for the first quarter. The Dow declined 1.1% to 17776.12.
The S&P fell 0.9% to 2067.89 and the Nasdaq lost 0.9% to
4900.88.
The S&P 500 eked out a quarterly gain of 0.4% and the Nasdaq
gained 3.5% in the period, with both indexes notching their ninth
quarter in a row of gains. Still, the S&P's first-quarter
advance was the smallest in those nine quarters of gains amid soft
U.S. economic performance at the start of the year and concerns
about first-quarter earnings.
"Overall, the U.S. is in decent shape," said Laura LaRosa,
director of portfolio management at Glenmede. "We will probably
have positive returns this year, just not what we've seen in the
last couple of years, " she added.
European stocks were bolstered by better than expected data that
showed eurozone manufacturing activity in March grew at the fastest
pace in 10 months. Germany's DAX gained 0.6% and France's CAC 40
rose 1%.
"The valuations in Europe are much more attractive right now,"
said Ms. LaRosa of Glenmede, adding that European stocks will
likely outpace their U.S. counterparts this year.
The dollar took a breather, with the euro rising to $1.0793 from
$1.0735 on Tuesday.
In other markets, gold futures rose 0.7% to $1191.70 an ounce.
Crude-oil futures rose 0.6% to $47.90 a barrel.
Treasury prices rose, pushing the 10-year yield down to 1.905%
from 1.930% on Tuesday.
In corporate news, Macerich Co. rejected Simon Property Group
Inc.'s "best and final" bid, saying the offer undervalued the
company. Simon subsequently withdrew its $16.8 billion offer.
Macerich shares fell 5.2% in premarket trade and Simon shares were
little changed.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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