The stock exchanges in New York suffered losses on the first trading day after the long weekend. The geopolitical tensions were felt and speeches by the leaders of the Federal Reserve were assessed. Safer investments such as government bonds were in the right direction. In addition, investors turned up for Hurricane Irma, which stalled on Florida.
The leading Dow Jones index ended 1.1 percent lower on 21,753.31 points. The broad S & P 500 dropped 0.8 percent to 2457.85 points. Nasdaq dropped 0.9 percent to 6375.57 points.
United Technologies announced acquisition of Rockwell Collins for $30 billion including debt. United Technologies fell 5.7 percent, Rockwell increased 0.3 percent. Other companies in the defense industry took note of the news about the acquisition of Rockwell.
Heritage Insurance Holdings, Universal Insurance Holdings and United Insurance Holdings fell 7 to more than 17 percent. The insurers are active in Florida, the state of Irma with the highest hurricane power. Cruise providers Royal Caribbean and Carnival were also under pressure due to Irma, losing 4.2 percent.
Investors also reacted to statements by Fed Governor Lael Brainard. She said during a speech that the US central bank should be cautious about interest rate hikes, as inflation has been behind for some time from the desired level.
Trading in the US securities of the French pharmaceutical company Cellectis fell by 20% after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended the clinical trial of the company’s anti-cancer drug. Meanwhile, the capitalization of another manufacturer of medicines, Insmed Inc, soared by 120%. The company reported on the positive results of testing its drugs against a rare lung disease.
ELI LILLY came in under pressure after the tentative approval granted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to Sanofi for its Admelog, an insulin lispro injection, to improve glycemic control in adults and children with diabetes, a competitor to Eli Lilly’s Humalog.
Delta Air Lines further lowered its expectations for sales per passenger. The stock lost 3.5 percent.
GM announced on Tuesday a 12% increase in its car sales in China in August to 328,425 units, after a 6.3% increase in July. In the first eight months of the year, GM sold 2.38 million vehicles in China, up 0.3%.
