(RTTNews.com) - After moving mostly higher over the course of the previous session, stocks may move back to the downside in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 15 points.
The downward momentum for the markets comes following the release of a Commerce Department report showing an unexpected contraction in U.S. economic activity in the final three months of 2012.
The report showed that GDP edged down by 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter after surging up by 3.1 percent in the third quarter.
The modest drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected GDP to increase by about 1.0 percent. The decrease also reflected the first drop in GDP since the second quarter of 2009.
The disappointing GDP data has overshadowed a separate report from payroll processor Automatic Data Processing, Inc. ( ADP ) showing a bigger than expected increase in private sector employment in the month of January.
The report showed that private sector employment increased by 192,000 jobs in January compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 172,000 jobs.
Nonetheless, trading activity may be somewhat subdued as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due at 2:15 pm ET.
While the Fed is not expected to announce a chance in policy, reports have indicated that the central bank may start hinting at tightening monetary policy earlier than anticipated.
Among individual stocks, aerospace giant Boeing ( BA ) may move to the upside after reporting fourth quarter earnings that fell year-over-year but came in above analyst estimates. The company also said its 2013 guidance assumes no significant financial impact from the grounding of its 787 Dreamliner jet.
Shares of Amazon ( AMZN ) are moving sharply higher in pre-market trading even though the online retailer reported weaker than expected fourth quarter results. Traders seem to have responded positively to the company's increase in sales and North American operating margin.
On the other hand, Broadcom ( BRCM ) could see some early weakness after the communications chip maker reported lower fourth quarter earnings and provided disappointing revenue guidance.
Upbeat earnings news pushed stocks mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, although the major averages ended the session mixed, as weakness in the tech sector contributed to a slim loss by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
The Dow and the S&P 500 ended the day firmly in positive territory, reaching new five-year closing highs. The Dow rose 72.49 points or 0.5 percent to 13,954.42, while the S&P 500 climbed 7.66 points or 0.5 percent to 1,507.84.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq briefly climbed above the unchanged line in the final hour of trading but ended the day down by 0.64 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 3,153.66.
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