LONDON: U.S. stocks closed mostly higher Wednesday, though the Dow industrials were unable to shake off a weak performance by Disney and energy shares, in a choppy day of trading Wednesday as investors digested conflicting U.S. economic data.
The main indexes advanced in early trade after a softer-than-expected reading on private payroll growth stoked ideas the Federal Reserve might not be so hasty about hiking rates.
But a reading of the service sector indicated signs of economic vigor, surging to a 10-year high in July.
Arguably seeing the most volatile trading action was the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.06% which flipped between gains and losses in afternoon trade. Earlier in the session, the blue-chip index had been up nearly 111 points and down nearly 58 points. The index closed down 10.22 points at 17,540.47.
Shares of Walt Disney Co. DIS, -9.17% which were down 9%, helped drag the Dow lower. The media giant reported weaker-than-expected revenue because of slower TV network and parks growth late Tuesday.
The S&P 500 SPX, +0.31% finished up 6.52 points, or 0.3%, at 2,099.84, after rising around 19 points earlier. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.67% advanced 34.40 points, or 0.7%, to close at 5,139.94, after being up nearly 70 points earlier.
