NEW YORK: US stocks Wednesday ended lower following mixed economic data and as investors looked ahead to Friday's US labor market report for January.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished essentially unchanged, falling a scant 0.77 of a point to 15,444.47.
The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 3.43 (0.20 percent) to 1,751.77, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 19.97 (0.50 percent) to 4,011.55.
The private sector added 175,000 jobs in January, according to payrolls firm ADP, slightly below the 178,000 estimated by analysts.
But the Institute for Supply Management's index of services sector activity gained to 54.0 in January, slightly above the 53.8 level expected by analysts.
Analysts do not expect significant market swings ahead of Friday's Labor Department report for January.
"Overall the economy is improving, but we've got to see some statistics that confirm that," said Bill Lynch, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates.
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