Wednesday's mid-afternoon trade: Wall Street drops on anxiety about jobs data

US stocks fell on Wednesday as investors worried that monthly jobs data could show deterioration in the labour market and raise doubts about the economy's health and the profit outlook.
Shares of technology companies, including Intel Corp, and those of economic bellwethers, such as plane maker Boeing Co and General Electric Co, led declines, along with shares of energy companies.
Investors were focused on Friday's release of September payrolls data to gauge the effects of the housing slump and credit market turmoil on the economy. "The jobs number on Friday is going to be huge," said Todd Clark, managing director of stock trading at Nollenberger Capital Partners in San Francisco.
"We'll have to see if it shows any kind of weakness. If it does, you're going to have a lot of concerns that the consumer is going to be crimped, discretionary spending is going to be down and the economy is going to slow down."
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 83.48 points, or 0.59 percent, at 13,963.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 7.30 points, or 0.47 percent, at 1,539.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 15.66 points, or 0.57 percent, at 2,731.45.