Mixed finish for US stocks

Seven of the ten main sectors close lower led by health-care sector led losers

US stocks ended in a mixed mode on Tuesday, 06 October 2015. The stock market endured a shaky session on Tuesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average eking out a slim gain while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite underperformed throughout the day. For the second day in a row, the U.S. trading day began after the release of some disappointing economic data overseas. The S&P 500 snapped a five-day winning streak to close slightly lower Tuesday, as a selloff in biotechnology and health-care stocks overshadowed gains in energy and materials sectors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a small gain, adding 13.76 points, or less than 0.1%, to 16,790.19, with nearly half of the blue-chip companies finishing higher. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day down 32.90 points, or 0.7%, at 4,748.36, weighed down by sinking biotech stocks. The S&P 500 closed 7.13 points, or 0.4%, lower at 1,979.92.

Seven of the ten main sectors closed lower. Health-care sector led losers, falling 2.3%, while energy and materials followed rising oil prices higher.

Economic data at Wall Street showed that the U.S. trade deficit jumped almost 16% in August to $48.3 billion due to a relatively stronger dollar. The report may offer fodder for those forecasting a delay in a rate increase by the U.S. central bank.

The ICE U.S. dollar index, a measure of the greenback's strength against a basket of six rival currencies, was down 0.6% in Tuesday trade also helping crude prices go up.

It was a quieter overnight trading session worldwide on Tuesday, with no major, markets-moving economic news released. China markets are closed this week for the Golden Week holiday. Today, it was Germany's Factory Orders report for August, which showed a 1.8% decline while the market had expected an increase of 0.5%. That being said, European equities were able to register gains after erasing their early losses, but the strength did not carry over the U.S. session as continued weakness in the biotech space kept the broader market under pressure.

A widening U.S. trade deficit and a cut in the International Monetary Fund's global economic outlook undercut positive momentum in the broad stock-market indexes in early trade, though some analysts dismissed the importance of the IMF downgrade. On Tuesday, the IMF said it was more pessimistic about prospects for world growth as declining commodity prices and increasing financial market volatility take their toll, particularly on emerging -market economies.

It was a day of good gains for bullions on Tuesday, 06 October 2015. Gold futures on Tuesday headed for their highest settlement in more than a week, set for a third straight session gain as investors focus on the expectation that benchmark interest rates will be lower for longer. Lackluster economic data, headlined by a weak jobs report last Friday, has provided some support for gold. December gold climbed by $10.20, or 0.9%, to $1,147.80 an ounce on Comex. December silver also picked up 32.7 cents, or 2.1%, to trade at $16.045 an ounce.

Crude oil futures logged their highest settlement in five weeks on Tuesday, 06 October 2015 as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries forecast big cuts to oil investments that are expected to ease production and reduce global crude supplies. Speculation over a possible meeting among the major oil producers also provided support for oil prices, ahead of weekly updates on U.S. petroleum supplies. News of a potential cooperation between OPEC and Non-OPEC oil producers also helped lift crude oil prices. But both Nymex and Brent prices have still fallen by roughly 9% year to date.

November West Texas Intermediate crude climbed $2.27, or 4.9%, to settle at $48.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem el-Badri, speaking at a conference in London on Tuesday, said oil prices are set to rebound as steep cuts in global oil investments crimp supplies. He expects global oil-and-gas project investments to be down by 22.4% this year.

In a report on Tuesday, the Energy Information Administration estimated that crude production was 120,000 barrels a day lower in September than in August and said that output is expected to continue to decline through next August.

The tech scetor received support from the likes of Apple, Microsoft and Intel but several other large components finished the day in negative territory.

Unlike stocks, Treasuries ended the day near their highs after a brief morning appearance in the red. The 10-yr note added a quarter of a point, pressuring its yield two basis points to 2.04%.

Today's participation was ahead of average as more than 950 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET while the Consumer Credit report for August will cross the wires at 15:00 ET (consensus $19.50 billion).

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