Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.23 percent to 20,901.88 while the NASDAQ declined 0.58 percent to 6,060.07. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.36 percent to 2,382.55.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector was the top gainer in the US market on Wednesday. Top gainers in the sector included Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE:WTW), Strayer Education Inc (NASDAQ:STRA), and Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ).

In trading on Wednesday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.37 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included P H Glatfelter Co (NYSE:GLT), down 8 percent, and Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS), down 6 percent.

Top Headline

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) posted upbeat results for its first quarter on Wednesday.

Yum! Brands said it earned $0.65 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $1.42 billion; Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.60 per share on revenue of $1.35 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Eco-Stim Energy Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:ESES) shares shot up 52 percent to $1.58 after the company reported a new long-term contract. The company expects the contract value to exceed $50 million.

Shares of Pieris Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PIRS) got a boost, shooting up 47 percent to $3.52 after the company reported a collaboration with AstraZeneca to develop and commercialize Anticalin-based inhaled treatments for respiratory diseases.

PhotoMedex Inc (NASDAQ:PHMD) shares were also up, gaining 29 percent to $1.56. First Capital Real Estate Trust reported 16.6 percent Stake in PhotoMedex.

Equities Trading DOWN

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS) shares dropped 27 percent to $0.769. DryShips reported a 1-for-7 stock split. The company is expected to release Q1 results on May 10, 2017.

Shares of Twilio Inc (NYSE:TWLO) were down around 27 percent to $24.74. Twilio posted better-than-expected results for its first quarter, but issued a weak forecast for the year. Pacific Crest downgraded Twilio from Overweight to Sector Weight.

Veritiv Corp (NYSE:VRTV) was down, falling around 18 percent to $43.29. Veritiv reported a Q1 loss of $2.2 million, versus a profit in the year-ago period.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.55 percent to $47.40 while gold traded down 0.68 percent to $1,248.40.

Silver traded down 1.64 percent Wednesday to $16.555, while copper fell 3.15 percent to $2.5525.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.07 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.16 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.10 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.12 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.09 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.42 percent.

Economics

Private-sector employers added 177,000 jobs in April, ADP reported, versus a revised gain of 255,000 jobs in March. However, economists were expecting an addition of 175,000 jobs for the month.

The Markit services PMI rose to 53.10 in April, versus a prior reading of 52.50. Economists expected a reading of 52.50.

The ISM non-manufacturing index gained to 57.50 for April, versus a previous reading of 55.20. However, economists were projecting a reading of 55.80.

Crude supplies dropped 930,000 barrels for the week ended April 28, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts were expecting a decline of 2.33 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles rose 191,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles slipped 562,000 barrels last week.

The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.