Wall Street Falls On Weak Economic Data As Oil Slumps To $58: What's Driving Markets Wednesday

Wall Street traded lower on the final session of the month, heading for its third consecutive monthly loss as economic data began reflecting the impact of Trump tariffs.

U.S. GDP shrank by 0.3% in the last quarter, marking the first economic contraction since 2022 and missing forecasts for a 0.4% expansion. The decline was driven by a surge in imports and reduced government spending.

Labor market data also disappointed. The ADP National Employment Report showed private employers added just 62,000 jobs in April—the weakest gain in nine months and well below the expected 108,000.

By midday in New York, the S&P 500 was down 1% to 5,500, on pace to end a six-day winning streak. Tech stocks in the Nasdaq 100 lagged ahead of earnings from industry titans Microsoft Corp. MSFT and Meta Platforms Inc.

Nine of the S&P 500's eleven sectors were in the red, with only consumer staples and health care posting modest gains. Energy and consumer discretionary led the losses, falling 3.3% and 2.7%, respectively.

Commodities were broadly lower. Oil tumbled 3.7% to $58 a barrel, approaching its lowest close since March 2021. Copper—often seen as a gauge of global growth—plunged 5.2% to $4.60 per pound. Natural gas declined 2.5% to $3.17 per million British thermal units.

Bond markets were steady, with the 10-year Treasury yield hovering at 4.17%. Gold dipped 0.3% to $3,330 per ounce, while the U.S. dollar index (DXY) strengthened by the same margin.

Bitcoin BTC/USD showed resilience, holding steady at around $93,000 despite broader market weakness.

Wednesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY fell 0.9% to $549.56.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA eased 0.5% to $403.24.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ eased 1% to $470.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM fell 1.1% to $193.82.

Wednesday’s Stock Movers

Stocks reacting to earnings reports included:

• Visa Inc. V: down 0.0%
• Booking Holdings Inc. BKNG: down 0.1%
• Caterpillar Inc. CAT: down 1.5%
• Illinois Tool Works Inc. ITW: down 2.4%
• Automatic Data Processing Inc. ADP: up 1.2%
• Humana Inc. HUM: down 1.3%
• Trane Technologies plc TT: up 7.6%
• Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. MLM: up 2.9%
• Vulcan Materials Co. VMC: up 6.3%
• Mondelez International Inc. MDLZ: up 4.4%
• PPG Industries, Inc. PPG: up 4.0%
• GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. GEHC: up 3.8%
• Arch Capital Group Ltd. ACGL: down 3.1%
• Fair Isaac Corp. FICO: down 0.6%
• Starbucks Corp. SBUX: down 7.0%
• Yum! Brands Inc. YUM: up 0.7%
• Costar Group, Inc. CSGP: down 9.7%
• Veralto Corp. VLTO: up 2.1%
• Seagate Technology Holdings Plc STX: up 8.8%
• Western Digital Corp. WDC: up 6.4%
• Garmin Ltd. GRMN: down 9.2%
• Generac Holdings Inc. GNRC: up 0.0%
• First Solar Inc. FSLR: down 9.5%
• Super Micro Computer Inc. SMCI: down 15.7%
• Edison International EIX: down 9.1%
• American Electric Power Company Inc. AEP: down 0.9%
• Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. PEG: down 2.3%
• PPL Corp. PPL: down 0.1%
• Oneok Inc. OKE: down 7.5%
• Hess Corporation HES: down 3.2%
• International Paper Co. IP: down 5.3%
• Stanley Black & Decker Inc. SWK: down 4.2%
• Essex Property Trust, Inc. ESS: up 0.1%
• Equity Residential Properties Trust EQR: up 0.2%
• Regency Centers Corporation REG: down 0.8%
• Extra Space Storage Inc. EXR: up 3.1%
• BXP Inc. BXP: down 3.7%
• Caesars Entertainment Inc. CZR: down 3.9%
• Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. NCLH: down 8.9%
• Amcor Plc AMCR: down 1.2%
• Expand Energy Corp. EXE: down 3.5%

Stocks slated to report earnings after the bell include The Allstate Corporation ALL, Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. HST, MGM Resorts International MGM, Everest Group Ltd. EG, Qualcomm Inc. QCOM, eBay Inc. EBAY, ANSYS Inc. ANSS, Public Storage PSA, Globe Life Inc. GL, PTC Inc. PTC, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. CTSH, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, UDR Inc. UDR, American Water Works Company Inc. AWK, Invitation Homes Inc. INVH, VICI Properties Inc. VICI, AvalonBay Communities Inc. AVB, Prudential Financial Inc. PRU, Crown Castle Inc. CCI, Align Technology Inc. ALGN, Meta Platforms Inc. META, Equinix Inc. EQIX, Aflac Inc. AFL, Ventas Inc. VTR, Albemarle Corp. ALB, Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. MAA, MetLife Inc. MET, C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. CHRW, and KLA Corp. KLAC.

Read now:

• As Growth Falters, Sentiment Slips, Economist Says ‘Risks To The Economic Outlook Are Increasing’

Photo: Shutterstock