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New York - Wall Street stocks dropped on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the US central bank could lift interest rates in December.
Yellen, speaking in a congressional hearing, said a rate hike next month was a "live possibility" if data continues to show solid economic growth.
Her remarks came two days before the US Labour Department releases a much-anticipated jobs report for October.
The ADP national employment report released Wednesday said the private sector increased hires by 182 000 in October, down 8 000 from September and roughly at the average for the past four months.
But data from the Institute for Supply Management showed activity in the service sector sharply jumped in October, to 59.1 on its purchasing manager’s index from 56.9 in September.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 50.57 points (0.28%) to 17 867.58.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 7.48 (0.35%) at 2 102.31, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 2.65 (0.05%) at 5 142.48.
Most media shares were weak ahead of Thursday's earnings from Dow member Disney, which fell 2.0%. Comcast lost 1.8% and CBS shed 0.6%.
Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox fell 5.1% as it fingered a poor performance by the superhero movie "Fantastic Four" as a factor in a 35% drop in profits to $675m for the quarter ending September 30.
Time Warner lost 6.6% as a downcast 2016 profit forecast revived worries about competitive pressures on cable companies and broadcasters from Netflix and other tech companies. Time Warner projected 2016 earnings of about $5.25 per share, below the $5.61 expected by analysts.
Tesla Motors jumped 11.2% as it reported a third-quarter loss of $230m but said it would launch a new model for less affluent buyers in March 2016. Credit Suisse said the "stage appears set for a very strong 2016."
Electronic coupon company Groupon plummeted 26.3% as it reported a net loss of $27.6m in the third quarter and forecast revenues of $815 to $865m in the fourth quarter. Analysts had expected a forecast of $956.8m.
Groupon also said that it was promoting chief operating officer Rich Williams to chief executive, replacing co-founder Eric Lefkofsky, who will return to the role of chairperson of the board.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.23% from 2.21% on Tuesday, while the 30-year dipped to 2.99% from 3.00%. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
