LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Wall Street skidded lower as the US central bank surprised some market participants by flagging an earlier-than-expected start to the process of shrinking its balance sheet to more normal levels, probably later in 2017.
The Dow Jones Industrial ended the session down by 0.20% to 20,648.15, the S&P 500 declined 0.31% or 7.21 points to 2,352.95, and the Nasdaq fell 0.58% or to 5,864.48; nonetheless, while losses were puny the main indices saw a relatively large swing from their intra-day highs.

"The committee moved quicker than we anticipated, and staff weighed in with various alternative scenarios during the March meeting. The desire to signal sooner than later is likely a function of the committee's wish to avoid adverse market reactions. Communicating early - and often - could have been seen as the best remedy to avoid a 2013 'taper tantrum' reaction from markets," Michael Gapen at Barclays Research said in a note sent to clients.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures ended just 3 cents lower at $51.15 but well off their best levels of the day as the DoE's weekly tally of US crude stockpiles revealed an unexpected build of 1.6m barrels.

From a sector standpoint, the worst performing industrial groups were: Coal (-3.76%), Iron & Steel (-2.50%) and Industrial metals (-1.95%). The KBW Bank Index fell 1.02%.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was little changed, down by one basis point at 2.33%.

Analysts were largely dismissive of Wednesday's economic data, which came in mixed.

ADP, a precursor to Friday's all important non-farm payrolls, revealed that private sector employers added 263,000 jobs in March more than the 187,000 increase expected. The February figure was revised down from 298,000 to 245,000.

In parallel, the ISM non-manufacturing index also fell in March to 55.2 from 57.6 in February, below the 57 consensus forecast.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the ADP numbers overstated the official non-farm payrolls data due out on Friday, while the ISM survey was likely negatively affected by seasonal and Easter-related effects.

Elsewhere, president Donald Trump is to meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday. The two leaders are expected to discuss trade and reining in North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

TopTradr analyst Tony Cross said the summit is "key in determining where markets will go next".

In corporate news, Panera Bread climbed 14.21% after JAP Holding, the parent of Krispy Kreme, said it will buy the restaurant chain for $7.5bn.

Drug store operator Walgreen Boots Alliance fell 1.61% after reporting a drop in quarterly revenue.

Monsanto rose 0.49% after the seed company beat profit and revenue expectations and issued a rosy outlook.

US-listed shares of Syngenta was up 0.92% after US antitrust officials cleared ChemChina's acquisition of the pesticide group.

Dow Jones - Risers

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $130.41 0.87%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $80.47 0.84%
Visa Inc. (V) $89.03 0.28%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $120.91 0.25%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $165.37 0.24%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $146.64 0.21%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $82.53 0.19%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $94.24 0.12%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $124.80 0.10%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $89.97 0.07%

Dow Jones - Fallers

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $86.19 -1.28%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $33.00 -1.23%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $172.88 -0.94%
Boeing Co. (BA) $177.08 -0.91%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $227.66 -0.70%
American Express Co. (AXP) $77.76 -0.64%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $49.02 -0.59%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $144.02 -0.52%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $71.65 -0.50%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $34.19 -0.44%

S&P 500 - Risers

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $17.53 3.18%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $85.34 2.86%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $9.76 2.63%
Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) $79.52 2.29%
McCormick & Co. (MKC) $100.64 2.26%
Extra Space Storage (EXR) $77.38 1.63%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $114.11 1.62%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $19.62 1.61%
Moody's Corp. (MCO) $113.07 1.52%
Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $82.30 1.52%

S&P 500 - Fallers

United States Steel Corp. (X) $32.64 -3.66%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $6.11 -3.32%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $37.80 -3.03%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $8.34 -2.91%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $27.88 -2.89%
Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $35.30 -2.89%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $36.17 -2.61%
LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) $88.40 -2.53%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $41.52 -2.28%
Keycorp (KEY) $17.20 -2.22%

S&P 500 - Risers

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $17.53 3.18%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $85.34 2.86%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $9.76 2.63%
Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) $79.52 2.29%
McCormick & Co. (MKC) $100.64 2.26%
Extra Space Storage (EXR) $77.38 1.63%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $114.11 1.62%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $19.62 1.61%
Moody's Corp. (MCO) $113.07 1.52%
Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $82.30 1.52%

S&P 500 - Fallers

United States Steel Corp. (X) $32.64 -3.66%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $6.11 -3.32%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $37.80 -3.03%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $8.34 -2.91%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $27.88 -2.89%
Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $35.30 -2.89%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $36.17 -2.61%
LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) $88.40 -2.53%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $41.52 -2.28%
Keycorp (KEY) $17.20 -2.22%

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