U.S. stocks slide after disappointing data BTIG s

U.S. stocks slide after disappointing data
BTIG strategist Dan Greenhaus: ‘ADP is a guide, not a predictor’
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks fell sharply Wednesday, with the benchmark indexes taking their worst hit in more than five weeks, after labor-market data disappointed ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report.

“If you stack up economic data over the last few days, a handful have disappointed, including today,” said Art Hogan, a market strategist at Lazard Capital Markets.

Friday’s “big employment report will determine the next direction for the market, at least for the short term,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives.

After a 136.65-point drop, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI JIA) finished at 14,550.35, down 111.66, or 0.8%.

The S&P 500 index (SNC:SPX) shed 16.56 points, or 1.1%, to 1,553.69, with financial companies hardest hit and technology losing the least among its major sectors.

While the S&P 500 and the Dow industrials on Tuesday closed at all-time highs, market breadth on the NYSE was a slight negative and trading volume slight, leaving the market “gasping for air at its current high-altitude level with buyers reluctant to step in and drive prices meaningfully higher on heavy trading volume,” Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at Davidson Companies, said in emailed research.

The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:COMP) declined 36.26 points, or 1.1%, to 3,218.60.

For every share rising, more than three fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where nearly 812 million shares traded.

Composite volume exceeded 4 billion. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-mo...2013-04-03