“We really haven’t had a great reason to sell off in the last two days because besides the durable goods numbers we haven’t had much news”, he said. The firm, which has about €149 billion ($167 billion) in assets under management, is waiting for volatility to settle before increasing its holdings of stocks, he said.
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US stocks were mixed on Friday ending a bearish week, as investors digested hawkish comments from Janet Yellen suggesting that it is likely the Federal Reserve will raise short-term interest rates before the end of the year.
USA stocks slumped on Thursday morning on further evidence that global growth is slowing. That sparked declines in US equities in five out of six sessions leading up to Yellen’s speech. Signs of weak growth overseas won’t prove large enough to have a significant impact on policy, the Fed chairwoman said in remarks that were briefly upstaged when she faltered and appeared to feel ill. Traders are split on whether it will happen, pricing in about a 43 percent chance of a hike in December and a roughly 51 percent probability of liftoff in January. The three indexes were off their worst levels of the session.
Apple and Gilead declined about 3.5 percent and weighed the most on the S&P and the Nasdaq.
Among the other S&P 500 groups that have fallen below their August lows are multiline retailers and makers of containers and packaging, sectors that had been in the top one-third of performers year-to-date through July. Blame it on the healthcare sector, which saw heavy selling, particularly in the biotech and pharmaceutical stocks.
The Nasdaq Biotech Index was down 6.2 percent, led lower by a 5.6 percent drop in Celgene. On Monday, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she would announce a plan to stop “price gouging” for specialty drugs, sparking a drop in the shares. “It’s been such a victor, the health-care sector”. Investors say the twin uncertainties of the timing of Fed lift off and the health of the Chinese economy have left markets jumpy.
Financial companies in the benchmark gauge climbed 1.5 percent as 81 out of 88 companies increased.
HONG KONG – Asian markets mostly recovered from the previous day’s sharp losses but Tokyo tumbled as investors returned from a long weekend to play catch-up, with auto giants hit by the Volkswagen scandal. Utilities were the strongest sector with a 0.8 per cent rise, while the energy index eked out a 0.4 per cent gain. The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 2.8 per cent, but it notched its second consecutive weekly decline.
“The market needs to find its footing, but that’s clearly not happening, at least not yet”, he said.
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KERX) shares were also up, gaining 8 percent to $4.22 following announcement of the European Union approval for Fexericx for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in adults with chronic kidney disease.
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Shares of Chevron and those of Exxon Mobil bucked the trend, last trading 1.4% and 1.1% higher respectively.
