The Nasdaq Composite Index returned to positive performance on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones closed lower as health and energy stocks fell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.62% to 302.30 points, the S&P 500 fell 0.24% to 16.25 points, while the technology-focused Nasdaq rose 0.23% to 54.05 points.
Health sector stocks plunged 1.28%. Pfizer fell 3.4% after the drugmaker forecast a challenging 2026 due to weaker COVID-19 product sales and shrinking profit margins.
Humana shares fell 6% after the health insurer announced a leadership change without providing further details.
Investors are now looking at US economic data delayed by the federal government shutdown to gauge the direction of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy for the year ahead.
In other developments, the NFP jobs report for November released yesterday showed the labor market recorded an increase of 64,000 after experiencing a decline in October due to US government spending cuts
However, the US unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November due to economic uncertainty driven by aggressive trade policies from US President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, retail sales data remained unchanged in October, slightly below the estimate of a 0.1% increase due to data collection delays due to the government shutdown.
