US stocks stuck in the red

Even deal news fail to lift spirits

US stocks fell on Tuesday, 06 May 2014. Selling of U.S. stocks accelerated early Tuesday afternoon. Even deal news, generally a positive for the market, failed to lift prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 112 points, or 0.7%, to 16,417.75. The Nasdaq Composite lost 43 points, or 1%, to 4,095.40. The S&P 500 was down 13 points, or 0.7%, at 1,871.38, with the financial and consumer-discretionary sectors leading the decline.

The major indices remain pinned near their lows for the day, held down by a relatively weak showing from the financial, consumer discretionary and technology sectors.

In deal news, Merck agreed to sell its consumer-products business, including the allergy-treatment Claritin and nasal decongestant Afrin, to German drug maker Bayer AG for $14.2 billion. Shares fell 2.5%.

Among stocks under focus, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yelp display losses between 3.0% and 9.6%.

On the upside, the energy sector remains in the green, but has narrowed its advance to just 0.2%. Similarly, crude oil has slid from its high and now hovers just above its flat line at $99.53/bbl.

Notably, the three worst-performing sectors so far today are cyclical sectors. Fed Chair Janet Yellen will keep economic (and policy) matters front and center on Wednesday with her testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, which is slated to start at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Separately, the $29 bln 3-yr note auction drew a high yield of 0.928%.

The sole U.S. economic report covered the trade deficit, which narrowed in March to $40.4 billion, slightly above the consensus of $40 billion.

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