US close: Wall Street ends on slightly mixed note
US stocks ended on a slightly mixed note as traders waited on policy decisions from the Bank of England, US Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan over the coming week, with M&A activity and gains in Apple providing a boost.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average drifted lower by 0.18% or 31.98 points to 18,034.77, the S&P 500 erased 0.06% or 1.25 points to 2,125.77 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.36% or 18.52 points to 5,173.77.
Meanwhile, oil prices moved back into the red, after the US Department of Energy reported that US oil output had risen by 35,000 barrels to 8.493m barrels a day. . West Texas Intermediate was down 2.84% to $43.66.
Prices had fallen sharply in the previous session after the International Energy Agency downgraded its forecast for global oil demand for this year and the next and said rebalancing the oil market would take longer than previously thought.
From a sector standpoint, the biggest losses were sustained by Coal (-8.62%), Non-ferrous metals (-8.39%) and Platinum and precious metals (-4.69%).
Import prices were weaker than expected in August, falling 0.2% month-on-month (consensus: -0.1%).
"More stable prices for domestic consumer goods should lead overall core CPI to rise further in the second half of this year; we look for core CPI inflation to have reached 2.3% y/y by the end of 2016," Barclays´s Blerina Uruci said in a research report sent to clients.
CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson said: “With the US central bank now in blackout period ahead of the decision next Wednesday there is little in the way of positive drivers helping underpin the market at this time, despite some better than expected Chinese economic data earlier this week.
“On the plus side we won’t have to listen to the arguments over whether Fed policymakers think they should or shouldn’t raise rates when they convene to meet next week, though it is clear that despite the rebound in the US dollar over the past few days it would be a major surprise if the Fed did anything at all next week.”
On the corporate front, deal news helped to underpin the mood somewhat. Shares in US seeds giant Monsanto rallied after it agreed to be bought by German chemicals and drugs firm Bayer for $128 per share in an all-cash transaction that will create a company worth $66bn.
Apple shares notched a five-month high on optimism regarding its newest iPhone.
Clinical-stage biotechnology company Vitae Pharmaceuticals rocketed 158% after it agreed to be bought by Allergan for $21 per share in cash, for a total transaction value of about $639m.
Herbalife racked up healthy gains after activist investor Carl Icahn suggested the company would be better off going private.
Elsewhere, Macy’s pushed up after Citigroup upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note slipped three basis points to 1.70%.
Dow Jones - Risers
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $111.77 3.54%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $81.02 0.98%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $126.26 0.43%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $115.18 0.39%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $117.89 0.21%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $71.52 0.08%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $51.49 0.08%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $35.62 0.03%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $86.97 -0.05%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $67.04 -0.09%
Dow Jones - Fallers
American Express Co. (AXP) $63.48 -1.37%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $154.09 -1.13%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $98.42 -1.02%
Boeing Co. (BA) $127.67 -0.85%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $61.35 -0.74%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $84.60 -0.72%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $101.66 -0.65%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $166.19 -0.50%
General Electric Co. (GE) $29.70 -0.50%
Visa Inc. (V) $81.49 -0.49%
S&P 500 - Risers
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $72.40 4.38%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $111.77 3.54%
FMC Corp. (FMC) $46.50 3.52%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $107.25 3.41%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $169.61 2.64%
Tiffany & Co. (TIF) $70.31 2.27%
Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $55.11 2.21%
United Rentals Inc. (URI) $78.69 2.18%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $114.07 2.18%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $129.42 2.07%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $90.12 -5.41%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $39.29 -5.14%
McKesson Corp. (MCK) $167.70 -4.63%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $25.14 -3.83%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $35.03 -3.82%
Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) $75.23 -3.62%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $9.80 -3.45%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $55.63 -3.42%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $40.65 -3.40%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $7.17 -2.85%