Investing.com – Wall Street traded slightly lower on Tuesday as biotech reacted to President Donald Trump’s tweet over healthcare and markets looked ahead to Friday’s jobs report as the last major data point ahead of next week’s monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve (Fed).
At 11:54AM ET (16:54GMT), the Dow Jones fell 26 points, or 0.12%, the S&P 500 lost 6 points, or 0.23%, while the Nasdaq Composite traded down 6 points, or 0.10%.
On the company front, biotech shares (NASDAQ:IBB) were off more than 1% after Trump promised via his Twitter account that he was working on a plan to create competition in the drug industry that would bring prices down.
Eyes were also on Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) as the company tumbled another 11% to its lowest price since its market debut last Thursday. The IPO prices was $17 dollars though the first trade crossed at $24. Shares traded below $22 on Tuesday in its second day of losses that were attributed to the fact that the stock had no analyst buy recommendations.
Earnings reports out Tuesday were generally downbeat with shares in Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) tumbling nearly 9% after the sporting goods retailer gave a disappointing guidance.
Brown Forman (NYSE:BFb) sank more than 3% after the maker of alcoholic beverages reported flat revenue and trimmed its outlook.
H&R Block (NYSE:HRB), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE:PIR) and Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) were among firms set to release earnings after the close.
With the U.S. central bank now in its blackout period ahead of the two-day monetary policy meeting beginning on March 14, most analysts noted that only a dismal jobs report this Friday might have the power to stay the Fed’s hand.
According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, Fed fund futures are currently pricing in an 86% chance of hike next week.
On a quiet day for data, the U.S. trade deficit jumped to an almost five year high in January as rising oil prices pushed up the cost of imported fuel.
The January consumer credit will be released at 3:00PM ET (20:00GMT).
Earlier on Tuesday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimated global economic growth would run at 3.3% this year before reaching 3.6% in 2018, unchanged from its last estimates in November.
The OECD did make adjustments to its forecasts for the U.S. however, estimating that the American economy would grow 2.4% this year as domestic demand firms, up from 2.3% in its last forecasts from November, but cutting its projection for 2018 to 2.8% from the prior 3% as higher government spending helped offset the impact of rising interest rates and a stronger dollar.
“Policy choices, including on the composition of fiscal spending, taxation, regulation and trade, are likely to have a significant impact on growth outcomes,” the OECD said in the report.
In the meantime, the Atlanta Fed cut the forecast for U.S. growth in the first quarter to 1.3%, from a prior estimate of 1.8% following the latest data on domestic vehicle sales and factory orders.
Meanwhile, oil prices were little changed on Tuesday, as market players waited to the American Petroleum Institute’s weekly stockpile report at 4:30PM ET (21:30GMT).
Official data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday, amid forecasts for an oil-stock rise of 1.7 million barrels.
U.S. crude futures gained 0.26% to $53.34 by 11:55AM ET (16:55GMT), while Brent oil edged forward 0.11% to $56.07.