Stocks Wavered Lower on ECB Report

U.S. stocks wavered lower in the early trading on Wednesday as global-growth concerns competed with optimism about the European Central Bank’s bond-buying plan after Bloomberg News reported the proposal would involve unlimited purchases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 1.58 points to 13,034.36. The S&P 500 Index fell 1.61 points to 1,403.33. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.83 points to 3,069.23.

The euro zone probably slipped back into recession in the current quarter, according to business surveys on Wednesday that also showed Asia’s services sector growth remained muted in August as the global economy struggled to get its footing.The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the euro zone, published by Markit, showed the economic rot that began in smaller periphery members of the 17-nation bloc is now taking hold even in Germany, its largest and strongest economy.

U.S. nonfarm productivity increased at a much faster clip than previously thought in the second quarter as businesses squeezed more output from employees, while wage inflation was muted. Productivity increased at a 2.2 percent annual rate rather than 1.6 percent, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. Productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, fell at a 0.5 percent rate in the first three months of 2012.
Boeing(NYS:BA) on Wednesday forecast that China will need 5,260 new airliners valued at $670 billion over the next 20 years and expects the country to become the second largest market for new commercial airplanes. The U.S. planemaker said small and intermediate twin-aisles, such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777, will account for a significant part of future deliveries in China.

Nokia and Microsoft Corp will take the wraps off the struggling European company’s most powerful smartphone on Wednesday, in what may be their last major shot at winning back a market lost to Apple, Samsung and Google.