Stocks on Wall Street fell early Wednesday after disappointing data on Europe's economy and a report showing slowing job growth at home.þþA day after the Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest point in four years, the index slipped 0.4 percent in morning trading. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 0.5 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 0.4 percent.þþEarlier Wednesday, reports showed record unemployment in the 17 countries that use the euro, as nearly half of those nations are now officially in recession. Unemployment rose to 10.9 percent in March, reflecting the downturn in the euro zone economy amid tough austerity measures designed to deal with national debts. Unemployment even rose in Germany, which has pushed the austerity measures.þþIn the United States, the payroll processor ADP showed that businesses sharply reduced their hiring pace in April, creating just 119,000 jobs last month, compared with 201,000 in March. The report covers only private sector hiring, and can be far different from official government figures, which are due out Friday.þþAfter spending much of Wednesday's session in positive territory, European markets lost ground following the ADP report. Germany's DAX fell 0.5 percent, and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.4 percent, retreating from earlier gains of over 1 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.9 percent.þþShares in Comcast, the largest cable company in the United States, fell 3.8 percent on Wall Street despite reporting a 30 percent increase in first-quarter profit.þþCVS Caremark gained about 2 percent after the drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager reported a 9 percent profit jump.þþMasterCard was down about 2 percent despite posting a 21 percent higher profit for the January to March period.
Source: NY Times
