US stocks were little changed on Wednesday after two days of sharp swings as investors shrugged off soft data on jobs and the services sector, while keeping an eye on developments in Ukraine. US private employers added fewer workers than expected in February while the services sector continued to grow, albeit at a slower pace.
A harsh winter has allowed traders to dismiss what appears to be a soft patch of data, making the market susceptible to a large pullback if the trend of weakness in data continues.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 24.43 points, or 0.15 percent, to 16,371.45, the S&P 500 gained 0.97 points, or 0.05 percent, to 1,874.88 and the Nasdaq Composite added 5.379 points, or 0.12 percent, to 4,357.351. Financial stocks led the S&P 500, with Bank of America up 2.8 percent to $17.19 and Morgan Stanley up 2.2 percent to $31.79.
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