Stocks on Wall Street faltered, hurt by weakness in the healthcare sector.Unpromising test results for a new Alzheimer's drug disappointed investors, as did a new call by President Obama to pass federal healthcare legislation.The market rose through most
Stocks on Wall Street faltered, hurt by weakness in the healthcare sector.
Unpromising test results for a new Alzheimer's drug disappointed investors, as did a new call by President Obama to pass federal healthcare legislation.
The market rose through most of the session, aided by favourable readings of jobs, service-sector activity, and the Federal Reserve's beige book of regional indicators. But the gains dried up late in the session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 60 points at its morning high but ended with a 9.22-point decline at 10,396.76, off 0.3% for the year to date.
Pfizer was the Dow's weakest component, off 1.6% after Medivation said its experimental Alzheimer's disease treatment Dimebon, which was in development with Pfizer, failed to show effectiveness in a large late-stage study.
The news sent shares of Medivation, which is not a Dow stock, plunging 67.5%. Merck fell 0.5%, while Johnson & Johnson slipped 0.1% after posting gains early in the session.
The session's strong economic data helped basic-materials and industrial stocks. Caterpillar and Alcoa rose 0.7 and 0.8%, respectively, while GE was up 0.8%.
The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped by a fraction of a point to 2280.68. The S&P 500 was up 0.48 point to 1118.79.
Other markets
European stocks rose, boosted by a fresh set of austerity measures from Greece and positive US data. The euro gained against the pound while oil and gold prices edged higher.
Greece announced tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the budget deficit about €4.8 billion, or roughly about 2% of GDP. The programme involves new taxes on a wide range of items, including tobacco and luxury cars, as well as reductions in civil-service pay.
The Stoxx Europe 600 ended up 0.8% at 252.60, The UK's FTSE 100 closed up 0.9% at 5533.21, Germany's DAX increased 0.7% at 5817.88 and France's CAC-40 gained 0.8% to 3842.52.
Asian markets made broad but modest gains with strength in commodity plays and upbeat economic data helping to lift Australia's benchmark stock index to its highest level in more than five weeks.
Weakness in property stocks helped fuel a small decline in the Hong Kong market. But overall, stocks in the Asian region found additional support as concerns over debt-strapped Greece diminished.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies closed up 0.3% at 10253.14, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.7% higher at 4735.70 to mark its strongest closing level since January 22.
Korea's Kospi added 0.5% to 1622.44, Taiwan's main index tacked on 0.4% to 7629.52, and the Shanghai Composite finished 0.8% higher at 3097.01. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended down 0.1% at 20,876.79.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Oil futures ended higher as promising US economic data provided enough support to keep oil prices above $US80 a barrel after more than a week of failed attempts.
A larger-than-expected increase in US oil inventories tempered gains, however, as plenty of crude remains available despite recent signs of economic growth and rising demand.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled $US1.19, or 1.5%, higher at $US80.87 a barrel in New York.
Gold moved to its highest level in nearly seven weeks as the euro rose.
Lightly traded but nearby March gold rose $US5.80, or 0.5%, to $US1142.70 an ounce in New York.
Most-active April climbed $US5.90, or 0.5%, to $US1143.30 and hit a $US1145.80 high – its strongest level since January 15.
Currencies: Euro, dollar up
The euro rose after reacting positively to the latest austerity measures in Greece but then relinquished some of its gains.
The US dollar also recovered some strength against the euro, which was at $US1.3731 from $US1.3609 late on Tuesday. The euro was at ¥121.31 from ¥120.74.
The dollar was at ¥88.36 from ¥88.72. The UK pound staged a small rally, pulling itself back over $US1.50 after falling below that level on Monday. It was at $US1.5108 from $US1.4960.
