News / Economy

US stocks drop for 2nd consecutive day after weak economic reports

Wednesday, 01 April 2015 10:08 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 01 April 2015 10:08 PM ]

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 12, 2015 in New York City. (AFP)

Stocks in the United States fall for the second consecutive day due to disappointing US data that has caused concerns about economic growth.

Wall Street stocks fell on Wednesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average standing at 17,698.92, falling 77.20 points (0.43 percent) at the closing bell, AFP reported.

The S&P 500 dropped 8.09 (0.39 percent) to 2,059.80 and Nasdaq Composite Index fell 20.66 (0.42 percent) to 4,880.23.

"The data the last couple of weeks has been relatively underwhelming and the concern is the US economy isn't growing as fast as people were expecting," said Michael James, managing director of Wedbush Securities, a privately held financial services and investment firm.

The US construction spending dropped in February this year while growth in the manufacturing sector slowed for the fifth straight month in March.

"The economic news for the last few months has been really tepid and trending downwards," Adrian Day from Adrian Day Asset Management told CNBC. "I think we're going to see weaker earnings in the coming period. When you add it all together the next earnings season is going to be quite weak and a potential knock to the market."

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