NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 15: A businessman walks along Wall Street on January 15, 2016 in New York City. Stocks have fallen significantly in morning trading with the Dow Jones industrial average down over 400 points as concerns about oil prices and the Chinese economy persist. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==
NEW YORK: Wall Street shed some of its early gains on Tuesday as US crude prices fell, cutting short a rally inspired by raised hopes for more stimulus measures in China and earnings reports in the United States.
China’s growth in 2015 was the slowest in 25 years, in line with expectations, as rattled investors continue to worry about Beijing’s ability to manage the economy.
The slowdown in China has resulted in a rout in commodity prices, with oil sliding below 12-year lows.
Oil prices diverged on Tuesday - Brent was up, while US crude was down, pulling down energy and materials stocks.
The market is being led by a combination of earnings reports and technical factors, said Jeff Powell, managing partner of Polaris Greystone Financial Group in California.
“From a technical perspective, we are at a level which if we don’t hold, we’re in big trouble and even decent earnings are probably going to be overlooked,” Powell said.
The S&P 500 has fallen about 12% from its high in May, pushing it into what is generally considered “correction territory.” On Friday, it sank to its lowest since October 2014.
At 12:38pm ET (1738 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average was up 73.79 points, or 0.46%, at 16,061.87, the S&P 500 was up 7.1 points, or 0.38%, at 1,887.43 and the Nasdaq Composite index was up 7.16 points, or 0.16%, at 4,495.58.
Bank of America reversed course to trade down 2.8% at US$14.05 despite beating fourth-quarter profit expectations, after it expressed concerns about weak oil prices.
Morgan Stanley barely held on to its gains, up 0.8% at US$26.19, after reporting better-than-expected profit.
UnitedHealth was up 2.9% at US$112.47, giving the biggest boost to the Dow, after the health insurer reported a 30% rise in quarterly revenue.
Macy’s was up 4% at US$39.35 after David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital reported a stake in the department store operator.
Tiffany was down 4.1% at US$64.89 after the upscale jeweler said holiday season sales fell 6%.
IBM and Netflix are scheduled to report results after the close.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,711 to 1,303. On the Nasdaq, 1,612 issues fell and 1,153 rose.
The S&P 500 index showed one new 52-week high and 37 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded four new highs and 206 new lows. - Reuters
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