Wednesday's early afternoon trade: stocks down as Yellen says December 'live' for rate hike

Wall Street was lower on Wednesday, following two straight days of gains, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said a rate hike in December was a "live" possibility, but not a certainty. "What the committee has been expecting is that the economy will continue to grow at a pace that is sufficient to generate further improvements in the labor market and to return inflation to our 2 percent target over the medium term," Yellen said.
"If the incoming information supports that expectation, then our statement indicates that December would be a live possibility," she told Congress. A raft of data on Wednesday suggested the economy was strong enough to support ending an era of near-zero interest rates. The ADP National Employment Report showed the private sector added more jobs than expected last month. The report comes ahead of the crucial nonfarm payrolls data on Friday.
Data also showed that the US trade deficit narrowed sharply in September. Separate data showed the US services sector grew at a faster clip in October. "It's been a real soap opera for the markets about whether the Fed is going to move or aren't they going to move," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in Florida. At 12:20 am ET (1520 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average was down 28.93 points, or 0.16 percent, at 17,889.22. The S&P 500 was down 5.07 points, or 0.24 percent, at 2,104.72 and the Nasdaq Composite index was down 4.15 points, or 0.08 percent, at 5,140.97.
Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, with the energy sector's 1 percent fall leading the decliners. The decline snapped a run of five straight days of gains. Chevron was down 1.4 percent and Exxon was off 0.7 percent. Time Warner fell 8.5 percent to $70.72 after the company said ratings for its "key" domestic entertainment networks have dropped more than anticipated.