Technology companies continued to make the biggest gains and oil prices rose for the second day in a row. Almost all of the Dow’s 30 blue chips finished in the red.
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Momentum was absent in the stock market during the last week of July, as the shares were weighted down by negative profit growth of S&P 500 for the fourth straight quarter.
At 10:48 a.m. ET, the Dow is down 104 points (0.58%), the S&P 500 is lower by 17 points (0.8%), and the Nasdaq is off 49 points (0.95%).
Stocks in Europe gained after the Bank of England unveiled a series of stimulus measures. Shares of insurer Aviva rose over 6.5%, while Standard Chartered was up 5.9% and PrudentialPRU -3.73 % rose 3.2%.
A source close to the matter told Reuters that Monte dei Paschi was close to finalising a group of eight banks to guarantee the cash call. Credit card Visa Inc.
“The new boss, Jes Staley, seems determined to get on with the task of getting rid of the bad bank sooner rather than later”, Hargreaves Lansdown senior analyst Laith Khalaf said.
US personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased 53.0 billion USA dollars, or 0.4 percent, in June, the Commerce Department announced Tuesday.
The main indexes were on track to post modest weekly gains.
The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 57 points, or 1.1%, to 5,224, hovering near its all-time high set more than a year ago. Banks also rose, and investors sold traditionally safe stocks.
Equities narrowly avoided their worst day since the selloff following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, with auto makers pummeled as sales disappointed while retailers had the steepest drop in five weeks.
Callaway Golf jumped almost 4 percent after sporting goods giant Nike surprised Wall Street by saying it will stop making golf equipment like clubs, golf balls and bags.
In the USA, stocks opened with little impact from the BOE decision.
Increased demand for government bonds pushed yields lower. During trading hours it fell to $39.27 – its lowest level since April 11.
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But Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 282.97 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 21,891.27, while China’s Shanghai composite Index lost 14.98 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 2,979.34.
