S&P 500, Dow ease from historic highs on weak jobless data

The S&P 500 index had recorded a subdued session on Wednesday. The decline could be attributed to the United States’ ever-increasing unemployment rate amid the reimplementation of new lockdowns in a bid to control the coronavirus crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.56%, while the S&P 500 recorded a 0.7% loss. The Nasdaq composite tallied a 0.47% gain, reaching 120 new peaks and eight new lows.

Wall Street’s most-watched index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average took a breather after reaching their all-time closing highs. Cyclicals and small caps dragged the indexes after initiating a massive gain earlier this week. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq remained firm backed by pandemic-resilient technology shares and tech-adjacent market leaders.