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New York - Wall Street stocks dropped in early trade on Wednesday on mixed economic data as the market looked ahead to Friday's US jobs report for September.
About 40 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16 889.51, down 153.39 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.85% to 1 955.52, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.12% to 4 443.09.
US private-sector employment increased by 213 000 in September from August, according to payroll company ADP. The job gains topped analysts' consensus estimate of 202 000.
But the Commerce Department reported that construction spending in August fell 0.8%. Analysts had projected spending would rise by 0.4%.
The data come ahead of Friday's closely watched September jobs market report, a key gauge of the health of the US economy.
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, which is developing treatment for the Ebola virus, jumped 15.1% following news of the first confirmed case of the deadly disease in the US.
Airline stocks were lower in a decline that some observers attributed to the Ebola news. Delta Air Lines fell 4.0%, United Airlines lost 4.4% and American Airlines dropped 3.3%.
Foodmaker General Mills fell 0.9% as it disclosed plans to trim 700 to 800 jobs, mostly in the US. The company expects restructuring charges of $135m to $160m.
The New York Times Company rose 3.7% as it announced plans to eliminate 100 newsroom jobs to cut costs, a reduction representing around 7.5% of the newsroom staff.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.44% from 2.51% on Tuesday, while the 30-year declined to 3.15% from 3.21%.
Bond prices and yields move inversely.
