US stocks were mixed on Wednesday as investors turned their attention to the delayed January NFP jobs report.
In terms of Wall Street's main indices, the S&P 500 fell 0.33% to 6,941.81, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.59% to 23,102.47, and the Dow Jones rose 0.10% to 50,188.14.
The US economy is expected to add 70,000 jobs last month after adding 50,000 in December.
Meanwhile, the US unemployment rate is expected to remain steady at 4.4%.
A lackluster performance in data risks weighing on market sentiment, especially after Tuesday's retail sales report showed unexpected uncertainty.
This development thus provides an early signal of the financial pressures faced by the low and middle income groups.
In other developments, technology stocks recorded significant falls, especially in the chip and memory manufacturers sectors which showed weak performance.
The decline indicates investor concerns about the prospects of technology that had previously been the heart of the market.
Meanwhile, financial stocks also fell after technology platform Altruist introduced a tax planning tool based on artificial intelligence (AI).
The innovation threatens the dominance of traditional financial services firms by offering more efficient and low-cost solutions.
