U.S. stocks end lower on profit taking, mixed earnings; Dow dips 0.35%

U.S. stocks end lower on profit taking, mixed earnings; Dow dips 0.35%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after investors locked in gains from Tuesday's rally and sold for profits on concerns that despite bullish monetary forces supporting stocks, other fundamentals may be facing headwinds.

At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.35%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.47%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.57%.

Stocks rose on Tuesday after the Department of Labor reported that the U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September, well below expectations for an increase of 180,000.�

The unemployment rate ticked down to a four-and-a-half year low of 7.2% from 7.3% in August due in part to more people dropping out of the labor force, which also weighed on the greenback.

The disappointing data fueled expectations for the Federal Reserve to continue stimulating the economy to boost job creation by buying bonds each month.

The Fed is currently purchasing USD85 billion in Treasury holdings and mortgage debt a month to boost the economy, a monetary policy tool known as quantitative easing that drives down interest rates to spur recovery and job creation, boosting stock prices in the process.

The rally stemming for expectations for the Fed to keep policy ultra-loose ended Wednesday.
While airplane maker Boeing beat quarterly expectations, earth-mover Caterpillar missed, which spooked investors somewhat.

Expectations that China's central bank will tighten monetary policy to help control inflation in the world's second-largest economy sent some investors chasing safe-haven dollar positions and ditching equities.

Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Boeing, up 5.36%, Procter & Gamble, up 0.67%, and IBM, up 0.45%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Caterpillar, down 6.04%, Microsoft, down 2.39%, and Cisco, down 1.74%.

European indices, meanwhile, finished lower.

After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 1.07%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.81%, while Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.31%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished down 0.32%.

On Thursday, the U.S. is to release the weekly report on initial jobless claims as well as data on new home sales.