2014.03.0606:33:21UTC+00US shares conclude erratic trading day lower

The US stocks ended a bumpy trading day on Wednesday mostly dwindling with blue-chips dropping the most, as investors reacted mildly to generally disappointing economic data. The key indexes traded in a slender range following a huge rally on Tuesday which pushed the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 to record levels.

S&P 500 closed around where it ended on Tuesday, plunged less than one point at 1,873.81 with the energy sector affected the most. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dived 35.70 points or 0.2%, to 16,360.18. The Nasdaq Composite concluded in optimistic note, adding 6 points or 0.1%, to 4,357.97, the most since April 2000.

Based on the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, US economic conditions in January and early February were hard to comprehend because of harsh cold weather. Sector after sector and region after region, it brought wreckage on conditions, the report added.

Before the bell, figures from Automatic Data Processing reported the private sector added lesser jobs than anticipated as intense winter weather continued to influence hiring. Private-sector employers accrued 139,000 jobs last month, went up from 127,000 in January, but fell from 205,000 in February 2013, said ADP.

After opening, a poll of executives displayed US service sector companies expanded in February at an aggressively slower move, and terrible weather was only a portion of the problem. The Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing index dipped to 51.6% last month, previously 54%. The employment benchmark slipped almost 9 points to 47.5%, reaching the least point since March 2010 as stern weather obstruct hiring in certain sectors such as construction and wholesale trade.