HONG KONG, March 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- American stock markets were relatively flat on Tuesday as the majority of investors sat on the sidelines following a recent upswing, health stocks appeared to decline due to fears related to the future of Obamacare.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed at 20,924.76 and 2,368.39, while the Nasdaq closed at 5,833.93.
On the open the S&P's health stocks led the bears after the Republican's revealed the possibility to dissolve the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare. This decision would reduce the government's job in healthcare by stopping the requirement for members of the public to have health insurance and supply additional funding for the poorer people.
Andrew Stevens, Director of Corporate Equities at CMC Gao Hua, said: "Donald Trump is causing the pharmaceutical sector to slide, the price of drugs for the US public will start to come down. This prevented the Dow from doing much movement, and the big companies come off. The greenback held strong however."
Within the US Forex markets, they have shown positive growth as its U.S Dollar has risen consistently against the British pound. The main factor that has determined the significant drop in the British pound has been the overwhelming pressure received in getting article 50 triggered without delay; also some weaker than expected economic data dragged the currency slightly lower.
The dollar was 0.10% higher against the euro to 0.9462 and up 0.17% versus the Japanese yen to 114.09.
In terms of data, the trade deficit rose to $48.5bn in Jan from $44.3bn, in line with the consensus estimate of $48.5bn.
US imports gained in January to $197.6bn from $192.6bn from December last year, while total imports also gained by $5.3bn to $240.6bn.
Many investors are betting that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates at the meeting next week, and focus will shift to the figures being released of the non-farm payrolls for signs of continued economic growth, with most analysts expecting the American economy to have gained 186,000 jobs last month.
Jin Weimin
Phone Number: +82 2 6022 4246
Email: jin.weimin@cmcalliance.com
