USA <strong>stocksstrong> had their strongest gains of the day after the Conference Board reported that the United States consumer confidence <strong>indexstrong> rose to 103.0, besting expectations for a sharp drop.
Advertisement
At the closing bell on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16,046.25, up 44.37 points (0.28 per cent). The Standard & Poor’s 500 index ( INDEXSP:.INX ) added edged up 2.31 points, or 0.12 percent, to finish at 1,884.
Many technology stocks suffered drops, including Amazon (-3.7 percent), Facebook (-3.6 percent) and Netflix (-2.7 percent).
On Monday, the three major indices closed in correction territory, or more than 10 percent below their 52-week highs.
Billionaire investor activist Carl Icahn was the latest to criticize the U.S. Federal Reserve’s inaction on interest rates, warning about the unintended consequences of ultra-low interest rates on the economy and financial markets. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was up about 1 percent in pre-market trade after plunging 6.3 percent Monday.
The S&P 500 recovered after falling earlier to within 0.26 percent of lows it touched in August, when fears of a slowdown in China shocked global markets.
Much of the damage came from pharmaceutical and biotech stocks, including Allergan and Gilead Sciences, with the sector still bleeding a week after Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton criticised drug pricing.
“There are mounting concerns over the health of the global economy – growth in Europe, and Asia are both weak”, said Zhou Lin, analyst at Huatai Securities, adding that a potential Federal Reserve rate hike later this year could hit emerging markets by luring capital back to the United States. Oil prices fell more than 2 percent.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said she expects rates to be raised this year. (AAPL), which was down 3%. Trading kicks off on Wednesday with ADP private payrolls (expected +190,000), a critical precursor to the pivotal non-farm payroll report.
USA investors also got a few good news on the economic data front, with August personal spending rising 0.3% and personal income up 0.4%.
Advertisement
(-) ZSAN (-34.02%) made a decision to discontinue development of its Daily ZP-PTH treatment for severe osteoporosis, ending a collaboration with Eli Lilly ( LLY ). On the Nasdaq, 2,309 issues fell and 502 advanced.
