Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 27, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
NEW YORK: Wall Street was higher for the first time in three days on Tuesday as a rise in technology stocks helped offset losses in energy shares.
Google parent Alphabet rose 0.7% after JPMorgan raised its price target on the stock, driving the S&P 500 technology index up 0.4%.
However, oil prices fell 2.8% to US$46.05 as hopes for a deal to cut output faded. The S&P 500 energy index dropped 1.22%.
With just six weeks until Election Day, some investors see a toss-up contest creating volatility in certain sectors, including health insurers, drugmakers and industrials.
Investors are digesting Hillary Clinton’s apparent win over Donald Trump in Monday’s first presidential debate.
Clinton is seen as the candidate of the status quo, while few are sure what a Trump presidency might mean for US foreign policy, international trade deals or the domestic economy.
“Volatility is going to be the norm, not the exception over the next several weeks,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Equity Capital Markets in New York.
At 9:44am EDT the Dow Jones industrial average was up 25.03 points, or 0.14%, at 18,119.86.
The S&P 500 was up 1.86 points, or 0.09%, at 2,147.96. Six of its 11 major indexes were higher.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 10.69 points, or 0.2%, at 5,268.19.
Investors will be closely following a speech by Federal Reserve vice chairman Stanley Fischer for hints on the timing of the next interest rate hike.
Fischer, who has taken a hawkish stance on interest rates, is scheduled to speak at Howard University at 11:15am ET (1515 GMT).
Amgen was the biggest drag on the S&P and the Nasdaq, dropping 1.9% after the drugmaker said its multiple myeloma drug was not found to be superior to Takeda’s Velcade in a late-stage study in previously untreated patients.
Gilead fell 1.7% to US$79.29 after Leerink downgraded the drugmaker’s stock to “market perform”.
Kite Pharma jumped 9% after the company said its experimental CAR T-cell therapy was highly effective in treating aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,326 to 1,276. On the Nasdaq, 1,246 issues rose and 957 fell.
The S&P 500 index showed one new 52-week highs and one new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 19 new highs and 11 new lows. - Reuters
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