Stocks reverse some gains after a sharp two-day rally on Wall Street, Dow falls

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, giving back some of its sharp gains from the last two sessions as Treasury yield rose.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 417 points, or 1.4%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dipped 1.7% and 2.3%, respectively.

Treasury yields rebounded Wednesday, weighing on stocks. The 10-year rate traded 10 basis points higher at 3.713% after briefly dipping below 3.6% in the previous session.

Private payrolls increased by 208,000, ADP said in its latest report, topping a Dow Jones estimate. Traders are still looking ahead to Friday’s release of the nonfarm payrolls report.

“Five of the last bear markets since 1950 ended in October,” Sam Stovall, CFRA’s chief investment strategist, told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” However, he added, “I still think we have a ways to go. We’re down 25% but bear markets with recessions usually decline about 35% and do so over a 15-month period. While we do have these relief rallies, we are likely to continue in a downward mode probably until the first quarter of next year.”

On Tuesday, the Dow jumped about 825 points, or 2.8%. The S&P 500 gained nearly 3.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 3.3%. Those gains, which come on the back of falling bond yields, led to the strongest two-day stretch for the S&P 500 since 2020.

Market participants wondered whether those signs could mean markets have finally priced in a bottom after the sharp declines in the prior quarter.

“I don’t think you have to worry about a recession until the second half of ’23,” Stifel chief equity strategist Barry Bannister said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “So there is room for a rally as you go into the early part of next year.”