NEW YORK, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. markets slid Wednesday for the fourth consecutive session as investors continued to see positive data as precursors to a central bank policy shift.
"Investors have gotten used to the idea that at some point the Fed [U.S. Federal Reserve] will need to start getting out of the way, Colleen Supran, a principal with Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough told The Wall Street Journal.
Wednesday began with an Automatic Data Processing report that said the private sector added 215,000 jobs in November, far more than expected. The payroll firm also revised the October data to reflect a gain of 184,000 new jobs, up from the 130,000 estimated last month.
The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday that the U.S. service sector expanded for the 47th consecutive month in November. The gains have been slow, but steady with the purchasing managers index currently at 53.9 in an index in which 50 is the dividing line between contraction and growth.
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The employment index for November came in at 52.5.
The blue-chip Dow index gave up 24.85 points or 0.16 percent to 15,889.77. The S&P dropped 2.34 points, 0.13 percent, to 1,792.81. The tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index added 0.80 points or 0.02 percent to close at 4038 even.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,176 stocks advanced while 1,902 declined on a trading volume of 3.6 billion shares.
The London FTSE 100 index shed 22.46 points, or 0.34 percent, at 6,509.97. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index dropped 341.72 points, or 2.17 percent, ending at 15,407.94.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 2.837 percent, off 13/32.
On currency markets, the euro edged higher against the dollar at $1.3591. The dollar fell to 102.33 against the yen.
January crude oil futures gained $1.23 or 1.28 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange to settle at $97.27 a barrel.
On the exchange's Comex division, gold futures added $21.80 or 1.79 percent to hit $1,242.60 an ounce.
Corn for March contracts added 4.75 cents to end at $4.36 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for March delivery lost 6.25 cents to $6.62 a bushel, while January soybeans added 8 cents to close at $13.2775 a bushel.
