U.S. Stocks Fell as Growth-Charged Rally Fades

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were falling after data about private payrolls showed strong demand for labor despite rising interest rates.

At 10:21 ET (14:21 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 360 points, or 1.2%, while the S&P 500 was down 1.6% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 2%.

Tech stocks had staged a mini rally to start the month and the fourth quarter. Treasury yields also fell. But that reversed on Wednesday, at least in early trading.

The 10-year Treasury rose to 3.78%, up 3.8%.

The ADP nonfarm payrolls report employers increased their hiring in September. The reading was 208,000, slightly higher than expectations. Investors are anticipating Friday’s broader jobs report from the government. 

The rally on Monday and Tuesday was fueled by hopes that the Federal Reserve could begin to ease off its interest rate hikes, though a stronger than expected labor market could toss a wet blanket on those hopes.

Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares fell 2.3% after surging 22% on Tuesday when Elon Musk said he would pursue his deal to buy the company at his originally offered price. Shares of Musk's electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 4.6%.

Oil was mixed as delegates from major oil producing nations met in Vienna to decide on production levels, with early reports suggesting they could agree to cut as much as 2 million barrels a day. Crude Oil WTI Futures ticked lower 0.2% to $86.32 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude was flat at $91.95 a barrel. Gold Futures fell 1% to $1712 an ounce.