Wall Street closes with losses as it awaits earnings reports from Amazon and Apple.

U.S. stock averages fell as the market awaited quarterly reports from some of the world’s largest companies.

The three main Wall Street indices closed Wednesday with losses. U.S. stock averages dipped in anticipation of quarterly reports from some of the world’s largest companies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, composed of 30 major corporations, dropped 0.22% to 42,141.54 points. The S&P 500, which tracks 500 stocks, fell 0.33% to 5,813.67 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.56% to 18,607.93 points.

On the economic front, investors learned that U.S. GDP grew by 2.8% in the third quarter, falling short of expectations and slowing compared to the second quarter, according to preliminary estimates.

In labor data, payroll numbers showed a stronger-than-expected labor market. The latest October ADP report revealed that private sector job creation hit a one-year high, adding 233,000 jobs versus the 113,000 expected.

Investors spent the day waiting for quarterly reports from Microsoft (+0.13%) and Meta Platforms (-0.21%), two of the five major tech firms reporting this week. Both companies saw significant after-hours movement.

Microsoft posted results in line with market expectations across earnings, revenues, and cloud services, while Meta exceeded most forecasts but disappointed in its virtual reality business revenue.

Tomorrow, investors are awaiting reports from Apple (-1.49%) and Amazon (+1%), rounding out the list following Alphabet’s (+2.92%) strong report yesterday. Nvidia (-1.36%) is the only major tech player yet to report.

Among sectors, tech saw the largest losses, while communication services led gains. Within the Dow Jones, Intel (-2.6%) and IBM (-2.6%) were the biggest losers, while Visa (+2.9%) stood out on the gains side.