Dow Slips while NASDAQ Climbs; Traders Eye Economic Data and Powell's Speech

Stocks ended mixed as trade deal optimism clashed with economic uncertainty. Gold and pharma stocks fell while Asia rose and Europe declined.

The Dow slumped 89.37 points (0.21%) to finish at 42,051.06 while the NASDAQ rallied 136.72 points (0.72%) to close at 19,146.81 and the S&P 500 rose 6.03 points (0.10%) to end at 5,892.58.

Recent trade deals between the US, China and the U.K. have slightly eased worries about President Trump's trade policies. However, uncertainty still lingers over the market's future direction. Traders remain cautious, awaiting key U.S. economic data due Thursday, including retail sales and industrial output. Attention is also focused on an upcoming speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Major sectors show modest moves while gold stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.8%. Pharmaceutical stocks were considerably weak as reflected by the 1.7% loss being posted by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index. Utilities, healthcare and oil producer stocks are also seeing notable weakness while computer hardware stocks are showing another strong move to the upside.

Asia-Pacific moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 2.3% while China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.9%. The major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell 0.21% while Germany's DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both slipped 0.47%.

In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back near the unchanged line after seeing initial strength. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 4.49%.

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