Global stocks are falling again (SPY, SPX, DJI, IXIC)

Investing.com

Global stocks were under pressure once again on Wednesday and stocks started the trading session in the red.

Near 9:37 a.m. ET, the Dow was down 115 points, the S&P 500 was down 12 points, and the Nasdaq was down 27 points — all by about 0.5%.

We got two big markets news events yesterday: a déjà vu of China concerns after weak manufacturing data, and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s unexpected rate cut.

There’s a bunch of US economic data out on Wednesday, which are expected to show that things are looking better on this side of the world.

But so far, the data has been mixed.

• ADP’s employment reportwas a big miss, and showed that private payrolls grew by 156,000 last month — the slowest pace in three years.
• Productivity growth fell 1% in the first quarter, which was less than expected. But the below-average trend in this expansion compared to prior ones is “disturbing” according to BNP Paribas’ Laura Rosner.
• The trade deficit shrunk more than expected to $40.4 billion from $47 billion in March.

Service-sector reports from Markit and ISM will cross at 9:45 and 10 a.m. respectively. Factory orders and durable goods orders are also due at 10.

Mike van Dulken at Accendo Markets summed up the global equity situation in a note: “Equity markets in the red again this morning with the FTSE underperforming on account of its exposure to weak raw-materials prices and renewed global growth woes from China data, sector data showing the incumbent supermarkets losing more market share and some poorly received earnings reports from several heavyweights.”

In trading on Wednesday, the FTSE was fell 1.2%, the Euro Stoxx 50 was down 1%, while Japan’s Nikkei slumped 3%.

On Tuesday, the Dow closed down 140 points, or 0.78%.