Low energy sends Wall Street down
THE DOW industrials and the S&P 500 index fell yesterday as a drop in oil and other commodity prices hurt energy and materials stocks. But the Nasdaq rose, buoyed by a broker’s upgrade in the biotechnology sector.
Light crude futures fell more than 3 per cent, hurt by concerns about demand despite hopes for economic recovery.
The dollar index rose 0.5 per cent after three weeks of declines and further hurt commodity prices, as investors scaled back short positions in anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates later this week.
Energy and materials ranked among the S&P 500’s worst-performing sectors, with oil services company Halliburton down 2.5 per cent at $27.45 and petroleum refiner Sunoco off 2.3 per cent at $27.79. Shares of diversified chemicals company Dow Chemical lost 2.8 per cent to $26.00.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 41.34 points, or 0.42 per cent, to end at 9,778.86. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 3.64 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 1,064.66. But the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 5.18 points, or 0.24 per cent, to close at 2,138.04.
Adding to the overall negative tone in the session, the Conference Board’s index of leading indicators posted a slightly weaker-than-expected gain in August.
Among the top drags on the Dow Jones was Caterpillar, down 1.8 per cent at $52.46 after it said dealer sales fell 48 per cent in August.
The Dow’s leading laggard was American Express, down 2.9 per cent at $33.76.
The Nasdaq rose slightly after Robert Baird upgraded Celgene, pushing the stock up 5 per cent to $55.19.
Shares of American International Group shot up 21.3 per cent to $48.40 after the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog agency of Congress, said the insurer’s once desperate financial state has started to stabilise.