Today's Stock Market Close: Traders Take Breather Following Recent Runup

Stocks took a breather from their recent runup and moved lower Wednesday as Uber investors went on a selling spree as the lock-up period ended.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, closing at 27,492. The Nasdaq Composite gave up 24 points to close at 8,410 and the S&P 500 added 2 points to close at 3,076.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 3.6 billion shares with 1,389 issues advancing and 99 setting new highs, and 1,576 declining and 32 setting new lows.

Uber (UBER), Nio Inc. ADR (NIO), which fell 12% after its top finance executive resigned, and General Electric Co. (GE) led the most actives.

The Labor Department reported labor productivity fell 0.3% in the third quarter, with output increasing 2.1% and hours worked adding 2.4%. Unit labor costs in the non-farm business sector increased 3.6%, reflecting a 3.3% increase in compensation per hour and a 0.3%$ decline in productivity, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. In the last year, labor costs have increased 3.1%.

The IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index for the euro area rose in October to 50.6, with German manufacturing the major drag. French business activity showed improvement. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.

In earnings news, Softbank (SFTBY) reported an $8.9 billion loss in its Vision Fund, largely because of its bets on WeWork, which accounted for more than half of the loss, and Uber.

“My own investment judgment was really bad. I regret it in many ways,” SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son told a news conference called to release its earnings. Son added he mistakenly ignored the negative aspects of WeWork co-founder and ousted CEO Adam Neuman to his peril.

Uber took a beating, with shares dipping below its initial public offering. About 90% of Uber shares became eligible to trade Wednesday. Share prices fell 3.85% to $26.94 as 126.9 million shares changed hands.

The Wall Street Journal reported Xerox Holdings Corp. (XRX) wants to buy HP (HPQ), which has a market value of $27 billion, more than three times the size of Xerox. Xerox is expecting a $2.3 billion windfall from the sale of its stake in a joint venture with Fujifilm Holdings.

Global markets were mixed.

In Asia, the Hong Kong Hang Seng closed up 0.02% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.22% and China’s Shanghai Composite gave up 0.43%. Australia’s S&P/ASX was off 0.55%.

In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 closed up 0.12% while the German DAX gained 0.24% and the French CAC 40 was up 0.34%. The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.21%.

On currency markets, the British pound was off 0.21% at $1.2856 while the euro dipped 0.05% to $1.107. The U.S. dollar index was off 0.03%.

Oil futures were mixed. Crude oil gave up 1.24% falling t $56.53 a barrel while Brent crude gained 0.23% to $61.88. Gold futures added 0.61% to $1,492.80 an ounce while silver gained 0.21% to $17.60 an ounce.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note added 25/32, pushing the yield down to 1.821%. The 30-year note added 7/32, pushing the yield down to 2.31%.