Wall Street lower after rate cuts On the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York. Richard Drew / Associated Press July 5, 2012, 7:04 a.m. Investors seemed to shrug after the European Central Bank and China both cut key interest rates, and a U.S. employment report showed stronger-than-expected hiring in June. Major U.S. indexes opened lower in early trading on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 71 points, or 0.6%, to 12,873 shortly after the opening bell. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 was down 8 points, or 0.6%, to 1,366. The Nasdaq was down 10 points, or 0.4%, to 2,966. The European Central Bank cut its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage point to 0.75%, while China surprised investors by cutting its benchmark rates for the second time in a month. "Looking ahead, it is essential for banks to continue to strengthen their resilience where it is needed," ECB President Mario Draghi said in prepared remarks at a press conference. "The soundness of banks" balance sheets will be a key factor in facilitating both an appropriate provision of credit to the economy and the normalization of all funding channels." Meanwhile, investors also digested payroll data firm ADP's report showing the U.S. private sector added 176,000 jobs in June, higher than an expected 100,000. The federal government is due to report June employment figures on Friday.