By Alexandra Scaggs and Tomi Kilgore
U.S. stocks opened slightly lower after disappointing data on
first-quarter growth overshadowed an upbeat reading on
private-sector employment.
Investors were also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's
monetary-policy statement later in the session.
The S&P 500 index slipped two points, or 0.1%, to 1876, and
the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 20 points, or 0.5%, to 4084.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average held up better than other stock
benchmarks, however. It gained six points, or less than 0.1%, to
16541.
On Tuesday, the Dow rallied 87 points, or 0.5%, to close just
0.2% shy of its Dec. 31 record closing high of 16576.66.
The recent pressure on previously highflying Internet stocks,
which eased on Tuesday, looked set to resume Wednesday following
disappointing earnings from Twitter, which fell 10% in early
trading.
Stock futures edged lower before the market's open after a first
read of first-quarter gross domestic product showed growth of just
0.1%, well below expectations of a 1.1% increase and fourth-quarter
growth of 2.6%.
The Federal Reserve's monetary-policy statement will be released
at 2 p.m. Economists expect the Fed to announce a further trimming
of its bond-purchase program by $10 billion a month to $45
billion.
"The focus has been on the hit to growth from tapering, and the
market seems to have gotten over that," said Tom Clarke, a
portfolio manager for the William Blair Dynamic Allocation
Strategies Team, which manages $745 million.
Mr. Clarke said that the fund trimmed back its holdings in U.S.
stocks earlier this year, after last year's 30% rally in the
S&P 500 brought stock-market valuations near or above their
long-term-average levels. "The opportunities we see in equity
markets have been diminishing," he said.
Data Wednesday also showed private-sector job growth was
slightly higher than expected in April. Automatic Data Processing
and Moody's Analytics reported that 220,000 jobs were created that
month, above expectations for a rise of 210,000. Many view the
report as a preview of the government's monthly employment report,
due Friday.
Still on tap, the Institute for Supply Management's Chicago-area
purchasing managers index for April, due at 9:45 a.m. Eastern, is
forecast to rise to 57.0 from March's 55.9.
Write to Tomi Kilgore at tomi.kilgore@wsj.com