TRADERS: 3 reasons why stocks are selling off on Wednesday
In an afternoon email, NYSE floor governor Rich Barry highlighted 3 things traders on the NYSE floor are pointing to as catalysts for the sell off:
1. Yields are rising. The US 10-year yield touched its highest since March, near 2.24%, and crossed its 200-day moving average - a sign that it could continue going higher.
2. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said stock valuations "at this point are generally quite high" in a speech at the IMF on Wednesday. Barry notes that this "out of the blue" comment comes as the S&P 500 trades around 18.7 times earnings.
3. Finally, investors fear that the Fed is moving to raise interest rates even though the economy is trudging along. "See the recent disappointing U.S. economic data releases…"
The first snapshot of the jobs market in April came in below expectations.
ADP's report showed private payrolls grew by 169,000 last month, compared to the forecast for 200,000. March's report was revised lower to 175,000 from 189,000.
Near 2:10 pm ET, the Dow was down 136 points, the S&P 500 was down 15 points, the Nasdaq was down 37 points.