Investing.com – Wall Street traded mixed on Tuesday as stocks attempted to continue the rally begun in the prior session as oil helped support energy stocks, but disappointing news from drug makers put pressure on the Nasdaq.
At 15:25GMT or 11:25AM ET, the Dow 30 gained 70 points, or 0.39%, the S&P 500 rose 7 points, or 0.34%, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite inched up 1 point, or 0.01%.
Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Janet Yellen was upbeat on the U.S. economic outlook on Monday though her comments all but ruled out a chance for a June rate hike.
Although the U.S. central bank chief repeated the idea that rates would move forward gradually, she avoided the time frame from a May 27 speech where she had said they would start “in the coming months”.
On Tuesday, Fed funds futures were pricing in just a 4% probability for a rate hike in June.
In addition, according to the CME Group tool, the odds for the next increase did not pass the 50% threshold until the December 14 decision, with a probability of 64%.
Meanwhile, oil prices firmed above the $50-level, helping support the Dow and S&P, with Chevron (NYSE:CVX), up more than 2%, leading the gains on the blue-chip index.
Investors continued to weigh supply disruptions in Nigeria and amid expectations for a decline in U.S. crude inventories.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles fell by 3.5 million barrels in the week ended June 3.
U.S. crude futures gained 0.83% to $50.10 by 15:29GMT, or 11:29ET, while Brent oil traded up 0.26% to $50.68.
However, biotech companies NASDAQ:IBB weighed on the Nasdaq as Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) plummeted almost 13% after the company’s high profile experimental drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis showed disappointing results.
Additionally, Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX) shares plunged more than 12% after the troubled pharmaceutical group announced disappointing first quarter profit and revenue, prompting it to slash its guidance for the year.
In other company news, Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) slumped more than 4% after giving a downbeat outlook at its investor day.
On the upside, United Natural Foods Inc (NASDAQ:UNFI) soared more than 15% after beating on quarterly profit and providing a forward guidance that was better than expected.
Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) shares inched down despite reports that Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) plans to submit a second-round bid of around $3 billion for the tech firm’s core internet business. The blue chip telecom was the second largest advancer on the Dow with gains of 1.6%.
In a light day for U.S. economic data, first quarter productivity was revised upwards to a 0.6% decline that was in line with analyst forecasts; while unit labor costs for the same period was also revised higher.
A reading on consumer credit for April is expected at 19:00GMT, or 3:00PM ET.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.14% at 93.90, close to the previous session’s three-week lows of 93.74.
The dollar slumped close to 1% against the pound as two new polls on the June 23 referendum on the U.K.’s membership in the European Union showed the “remain” camp with a slight lead, reducing jitters that the vote could lead to a Brexit.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar jumped more than 1% against its U.S. counterpart after the country’s central bank left rates on hold on Tuesday and held off from indicating that more monetary easing is in the cards.