NEW YORK, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. markets closed mixed Wednesday despite an Automatic Data Processing report that said December added more jobs than any other month of 2013.
The private sector gained 238,000 jobs, ADP said, topping the previous highest mark of the year, 229,000 jobs gained in November.
Private sector jobs have made gains in each of the past four months. Thursday's report included 38,000 more jobs than economists had anticipated.
But analyst said a slowdown in equity markets is inevitable.
Related
- Markets turn higher Tuesday
- Markets slide Monday with rally in limbo
- Dow up, Nasdaq, S&P 500 down at close of Friday's trading
- U.S. markets slide in first session of the year
- Markets close out 2013 on a high note
- Markets closed mixed as year's end nears
- Markets flat Friday
- Santa Claus rally sends markets to record highs
"It stands to reason that stocks weren't going to shoot out of the blocks at the same trajectory as we saw equities rise in the fourth quarter of last year. That pace was unsustainable," chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott told the Wall Street Journal.
On Wednesday, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average dropped 68.20 points or 0.41 percent to 16,462.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 shed 0.39 points, 0.02 percent, to close at 1,837.49.
The Nasdaq added 12.43 points, 0.3 percent, to 4,165.61.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 3.6 billion shares were traded, with 1,352 issues advancing and 1,726 declining.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 dropped 33.67 points, 0.5 percent, to close at 6,721.78.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed at 16,121.45 points, up 307.08 points, or 1.94 percent.
The 10-year U.S. treasury was yielding 2.994 percent, off 14/32.
The euro traded lower at $1.3579 and the dollar was marginally higher against the yen at 104.91 yen.
Gold gave up $4.60 to settle at $1,225 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Silver shed 26.78 cents to reach $19.52.
Crude oil was off $1.12 in late trading at $92.55 per barrel.
On the Chicago Board of Trade, March corn lost 10.25 cents to $4.1575 per bushel. Soybeans gave up 6.75 cents to $12.695. Wheat shed 15 cents to $5.875.
