Wall Street briefly cut losses on Wednesday after government data showed new orders received by U.S. factories rose for a sixth straight month in February.

The U.S. Commerce Department said orders for manufactured goods rose 0.6 percent for the month versus Wall Street expectations of a 0.5 percent increase, after an upwardly revised 2.5 percent climb in January.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 43.23 points, or 0.40 percent, to 10,864.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> shed 4.24 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,169.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> fell 7.20 points, or 0.30 percent, to 2,403.49.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)