The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Wednesday as Wall Street waded through new economic data and awaited an afternoon speech on the economy from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The 30-stock index swooned 138.54 points, still off its lows of the morning, to move into Wednesday afternoon at 33,713.99.
The S&P 500 dropped 2.77 points to 3,954.86.
The NASDAQ gained 33.55 points to 11,017.33.
Despite mixed trading for the final day in November, the three major indexes remain poised to end the month positively.
The Dow was on pace to end the month up slightly under 3%. The S&P 500 is poised to add 2.1%.
Lagging behind the other two, the NASDAQ is on track to end November 0.3% higher.
All signs have been pointing to weak sales of home furnishings after consumers spent heavily in the category during the pandemic. In recent days, companies like Williams-Sonoma and RH have received downgrades.
However, Wayfair shares are up Wednesday after reporting strong five-day holiday weekend sales. From Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, the company saw a low-single digit sales increase in the U.S. compared with the same period last year.
Jobs opening data from the U.S. Labor Department released later Wednesday showed the number of openings falling and coming in below expectations. On top of that, pending home sales declined for the fifth consecutive month in October, according to data from the National Association of retailers.
But the Bureau of Economic Analysis also said Wednesday that third-quarter GDP increased at a 2.9% annual rate, according to its second estimate. That was revised higher from the 2.6% first estimate, showing the economy is stronger than previously thought.
Investors are waiting for Powell's speech at the Brookings Institution this afternoon that may give further insight into the central bank's thinking on future interest rate increases. The Fed is slated to meet later this month and is largely expected to deliver a smaller 0.5-percentage=point rate hike after four consecutive 0.75-percentage-point increases to tame high inflation. Any signal of a pivot on future rate hikes would likely send markets higher.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sank, raising yields to 3.77% from Tuesday's 3.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices increased $2.35 to $80.55 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $3.40 to $1,767.10 U.S. an ounce.