US stocks end mostly lower after deluge of data

US stocks Wednesday ended mostly lower after markets weighed a stream of generally solid economic data ahead of Friday's big jobs report. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 24.08 points (0.15 percent) at 15,890.54. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 2.29 (0.13 percent) to 1,792.86 while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index inched up 0.80 (0.02 percent) to 4,038.01. Markets were in negative territory most of the day after payrolls firm ADP reported strong jobs growth, the US trade deficit declined and October new-home sales notched a 25.4 percent rise compared with the prior month. On the downside, the Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers index for service sector activity fell to 53.9, below the 55 consensus estimate. But markets pared losses after the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book report, which painted a generally good picture of the economy in the wake of October's partial government shutdown. Analysts are awaiting Friday's monthly jobs report. Anthony Conroy, head of global trading at Bank of New York Convergex, said traders are in "more of a profit-taking mood" in anticipation that the US Federal Reserve will taper its bond-buying program, most likely early in 2014. "Everybody is looking to every datapoint trying to get a sense ofwhat the Fed is going to do," Conroy said. Conroy does not expect major market swings before the Fed winds up its next policy meeting on December 18.