Investing.com – Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday, as investors considered the prospect of a March rate hike while healthcare stocks tumbled after a warning from President Donald Trump.
Healthcare stocks, started the session on the back foot, after President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that he will bring drug prices “way down”.
Trump’s tweet supported his earlier statement in January, when he claimed that pharmaceutical companies are “getting away with murder” in what they charge the government for medicine.
Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) as well as a slew of European household pharmaceutical stocks sank lower.
Meanwhile, economic data had little impact on U.S. equities, after data showed the U.S. trade deficit grew in January to its widest monthly level in almost five years.
The commerce department said Tuesday, the trade gap widened by 9.6% to $48.5 billion in January, the highest level since March 2012, and in line with economists’ forecasts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.15% lower at 20,922. The S&P 500 shed 0.29% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.26% to close at 5,833. It was the first time since Jan 2, the Dow and S&P closed lower for a second straight session.
In corporate earnings news, Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc (NYSE:DKS) slumped more than 9% despite decent posting decent earnings for the fourth quarter, as the retailer issued a downbeat forecast for 2017.
The top S&P 500 gainers included Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) up 2.4%, and Viacom B Inc (NASDAQ:VIAB) up 1.8%, while Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) added 1.6%.
Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:FTR) down 5.1%, Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) down 4.2% and Express Scripts Holding Co (NASDAQ:ESRX) slumped 3.8%, were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.