The Nasdaq Composite extended its climb into record territory on Wednesday notching its 33rd record of 2021, despite an August private-sector employment report coming in below forecasts, which puts Friday’s monthly government jobs report and the timing for tapering of the Federal Reserve’s bond purchases in focus. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.3% higher at a record close at around 15,309, the S&P 500 index finished less than 0.1% higher at 4,524, on a preliminary basis, missing its Aug. 30 record by 4 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower, down 0.1%, at 35,312, pressured lower by declines in Caterpillar Inc. and Amgen Inc. . The Automatic Data Processing report showed a second straight month of weak jobs creation, with August adding 374,000 private-sector jobs, far below the 600,000 forecast by economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. On top of that, July’s rise in jobs was reduced to 326,000 from 330,000.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
