Today's Stock Market Open: Stocks Head Lower As Traders Cash In On This Week's Highs

Traders took a wait-and-see approach Wednesday with little to push stocks in either direction after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite reached new highs.

Shortly after noon, The Dow was off 22 points to 27,470 while the Nasdaq dropped 37 points to 8,397 and the S&P 500 was off 3 points to 3,071.

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 Purshasing 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 (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.

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 0.12% at $1.2869 while the euro dipped 0.02% to $1.1072. The U.S. dollar index was off 0.11%.

Oil futures were lower. Crude oil gave up 1.64% at $56.27 a barrel while Brent crude fell 1.99% to $61.71. Gold and silver were higher.