LIVE MARKETS-Wall Street dips as U.S. economy contracts

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WALL STREET DIPS AS U.S. ECONOMY CONTRACTS

Wall Street's three major indexes are lower early on Wednesday after data showed that the U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter. That said, indexes pared losses very slightly after a second set of data showed spending rose as consumers bought cars in the face of tariff uncertainty.

GDP was weighed down by a deluge of goods imported by businesses eager to avoid higher costs in the first quarter of the year, underscoring the disruptive nature of President Donald Trump's tariff policy.

Trump's response was that Americans should be patient, arguing that his tariffs would eventually lead to a boom in the U.S. economy.

"Inflation is up. The economy is slowing more. It's not a great environment for the equity market. GDP is backward looking but it doesn't portend good information going forward not with the environment we're currently in," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield, Connecticut.

"There's still uncertainty with the trade tariffs being high, and uncertainty around what's going to happen."

U.S. consumer spending increased solidly in March as households boosted purchases of motor vehicles to avoid higher prices and shortages due to tariffs, but it did little to change economists' views the economy had shifted to a lower gear.

But in the 12 months through March, the PCE price increase of 2.3% was above the 2.2% estimate, but below the upwardly revised 2.7% advance in February while stripping out the volatile food and energy components, the PCE price index was also unchanged.

Among the S&P 500's 11 major industry indexes, all are red with consumer discretionary .SPLRCD falling most and defensive staples .SPLRCS down the least.

Here is your snapshot from 10:31 a.m ET/1431 GMT:

(Sinéad Carew)

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