U.S. stocks turned lower on Wednesday as investors prepare to take in a spate of job numbers that could provide more clarity on the direction of the economy.
At 10:38 AM ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 206 points, or 0.6% while the S&P 500 fell 0.7% and the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.5%. All three indexes had traded higher at the opening of the session.
Wednesday’s job openings data said employers added 11.4 million jobs in April, which met expectations and was down slightly from the prior month. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said he wants to restore the supply-demand imbalance in the jobs market, which has forced companies to raise wages to attract workers. Right now there are about 1.9 jobs for every unemployed worker. On Thursday comes new unemployment claims for last week, and analysts expect the number to stick to the same trend shown the prior week.
Friday brings the government’s jobs report for May. Analysts expect the economy added 325,000 nonfarm jobs last month after adding 428,000 in April.
The latest inflation data showed the pace of rising prices has slowed, but rising gasoline prices could disrupt that trend. Nationally, the average price of gasoline rose to $4.67 a gallon, according to the AAA. That’s up from $3.05 a gallon one year ago.
Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) shares rose 12% after the company raised its full year profit forecast and said demand remained strong.
Shares of Capri Holdings Ltd (NYSE:CPRI), the parent of luxury fashion brands such as Michael Kors, rose more than 1.7% after reporting better than expected EPS of $1.02. Analysts expected EPS of 82 cents.
Oil prices rose. Crude Oil WTI Futures was up 2.3% to $117.36 a gallon, and Brent Oil Futures was up 2.2% to $118.16 a gallon. Gold Futures was flat at $1,848 an ounce.