NEW YORK: Wall Street stock indices pulled back from records on Wednesday ahead of key US labour data, while oil prices fell further after US President Donald Trump said Venezuela would turn over millions of barrels to the US.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 retreated from Tuesday’s all-time records as markets digested reports showing a fall in US job openings in November and a lower-than-expected rise in private-sector hiring in December.
More upbeat was a services sector survey by the Institute for Supply Management that showed healthier growth in December compared with November.
The jobs data was not great but did not “trigger changes to perceptions about future Fed rate cuts,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.
“We attempted to follow through from the rallies of the last couple of days, and so far we haven’t been able to,” Sosnick said.
The Dow finished down 0.9%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.3% after both indices surged to new peaks amid bullish investor sentiment to start the 2026 trading year. The tech-focused Nasdaq edged up 0.2%.
Futures markets expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady later this month, but concerns of a sharp slowdown in hiring could prompt a rethink.
Analysts say Friday’s labour department report for December will be a critical input to the US central bank.
In Europe, Frankfurt hit a record high above 25,000 points.
Paris traded flat and London slid from a record high set on Tuesday as lower oil prices dragged on British heavyweights BP and Shell, which both fell more than three percent.
Both main oil contracts dropped on Wednesday, having already lost ground a day earlier, after Trump’s latest statement on Venezuela.
US energy secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that Washington will control sales of Venezuelan oil “indefinitely”. Venezuela’s state petroleum firm said only that it was negotiating the sale of crude oil to the US.
Analysts said the shipments lowered the risk that Caracas would have to cut output owing to its limited storage capacity, easing supply concerns.
But they added that the outlook for the commodity pointed to lower prices, as the market remains well stocked after Opec+ agreed to boost output.
Elsewhere, US defence stocks tumbled after Trump threatened to cap executive pay at major US defence contractors and ban shareholder dividends and stock buybacks.
Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and RTX all lost 2.5% or more.
Shares in Warner Bros. Discovery edged higher after its board urged shareholders to reject an improved hostile takeover bid by rival Paramount, saying it was still inferior to Netflix’s offer.
Shares in Netflix rose a scant 0.1%, while Paramount fell 0.9%.
