Stocks waver on news Trump might declare an 'economic emergency'

(ECONOMICS) - Stocks wavered Wednesday, on the heels of uninspiring economic reports and some ominous words from the president-elect.

The S & P 500 was down about 0.2% shortly after the opening bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4%. The techheavy Nasdaq was down 0.1%. The price of bitcoin was down about 2% and hovered below $100,000.

A private-sector jobs report from ADP, the payment processing firm, showed a slower pace of job creation in December, and slower wage growth.

And then there was the CNN report that President-elect Donald Trump might declare a "national economic emergency" to allow for import tariffs. An emergency declaration would allow him to tax imports with a relatively free hand.

That news spooked investors, who were already on the lookout for unexpected economic turns as Inauguration Day approaches.

Tariffs could raise prices for American consumers, triggering renewed inflation. And investors are losing confidence that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at their January meeting. Higher interest rates and inflation, together, could spell trouble for the economy.