GLOBAL MARKETS-Wall Street, dollar fall on economic worry; oil up
* ADP data on U.S. private hiring below economists'
forecasts
* European shares close higher, except Greece
* U.S. Treasuries up on bets on slower move by Fed on rates
* Oil rallies after stock build data, as talks on Iran
continue
By Sinead Carew
NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell for a second
day on Wednesday and the dollar dipped after weak U.S. private
sector employment and manufacturing data fed worries about the
U.S. economy ahead of a highly anticipated jobs report Friday.
Oil futures rallied as U.S. crude output fell for the first
time in two months and the government said stockpiles grew less
than some had feared. Also, Iran nuclear talks dragged on,
making traders less nervous about a possible supply boost.
The ADP National Employment Report showed that U.S. private
employers added 189,000 jobs last month, well below economists'
expectations for 225,000 jobs. The report was the weakest since
January 2014. A separate report showed U.S.
manufacturing growth in March was at its slowest pace in almost
two years.
The dollar dipped 0.13 percent against a basket of
currencies after falling as much as 0.38 percent. The soft
economic data reinforced the notion that the recent surge in the
greenback has hit exports and dragged on the economy, which
would worry Fed policymakers.
"People continue to have concerns about earnings weakness
and economic weakness," said Stephen Massocca, chief investment
officer, Wedbush Equity Management LLC in San Francisco.
"The weather and the currency moves are going to have an impact
on American businesses for the first quarter. This is going to
become a recurring theme in the couple of weeks."
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 78.2 points, or
0.44 percent, to 17,697.92, the S&P 500 lost 8.2 points,
or 0.4 percent, to 2,059.69 and the Nasdaq Composite
dropped 20.66 points, or 0.42 percent, to 4,880.23.
Treasury debt prices rose, with yields on the benchmark
10-year note slipping below 1.9 percent as investors bet that
lackluster economic data may keep the Federal Reserve from
raising rates until the end of 2015.
The decline in equities may have been exacerbated because
many traders were away ahead of Friday's market holiday, also
the day of the monthly jobs report said Andrew Frankel,
co-president of Stuart Frankel & Co in New York.
"You don't have people here saying, I'm going to stand up
with conviction. They'd rather wait until next week," he said.
In commodities markets, Brent crude settled up 3.6
percent to $57.10 a barrel. U.S. crude rose 5.2 percent
to $50.09.
Government data showed U.S. crude inventories rose 4.8
million barrels in latest week. Fears of a bigger increase had
been stoked a day earlier, when the American Petroleum Institute
said stockpiles rose as much as 5.2 million barrels.
In Switzerland, Iran and six world powers were closer to a
preliminary accord on Tehran's nuclear program, but talks were
stuck over key details such as lifting U.N. sanctions and atomic
research.
The rebound in oil prices made the S&P 500 energy sector,
the index's best performer for the day.
(Additional reporting by Michael Connor in New York; Editing by
Bernadette Baum, Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)