American flags fly in front of the New York Stock Exchange in New York in this file photo. Wall Street stocks finished lower Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014, following disappointing German economic data and ahead of Wednesday’s report on US retail sales. AP
NEW YORK–Wall Street stocks Tuesday finished lower following disappointing German economic data and ahead of Wednesday’s report on US retail sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 9.44 points (0.06 percent) to 16,560.54.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 3.17 points (0.16 percent) to 1,933.75, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 12.08 points (0.27 percent) to 4,389.25.
Market sentiment was dulled by the 18.5 point fall in the ZEW German investor confidence index to 8.6 points in August, its lowest level since December 2012.
Intercept Pharmaceuticals surged 16.6 percent higher as it disclosed encouraging clinical results from a trial on an experimental liver-disease drug. Deutsche Bank said the results “firmly establishes” Intercept’s treatment as a “big player” for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
Another biopharmaceutical company, MannKind, sank 12.3 percent one day after disclosing a worldwide licensing deal with French pharma giant Sanofi to commercialize the Afrezza insulin therapy.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch said that while Sanofi was a “very strong” partner, the structure of the deal will delay the payoff to MannKind.
Schlumberger slid 1.2 percent after saying that US and European Union sanctions on Moscow have hit its oilfield services in Russia and will slice three cents per share from earnings in the third quarter.
Women’s fashion house Kate Spade plummeted 25.4 percent as the company said a tough competitive environment has forced it to slash prices. That overshadowed an increase in the company’s earnings forecast.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.44 percent from 2.42 percent Monday, while the 30-year advanced to 3.27 percent from 3.23 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.