Stocks ended in a stalemate Tuesday as enthusiasm for an upbeat manufacturing report and a $44 billion acquisition by Warren Buffett was tempered by weak semiconductor stocks. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose slightly on Tuesday as news of a major railroad acquisition helped sentiment, but the Dow edged lower on caution before a Federal Reserve statement on interest rates and the economy.Morgan Stanley's downgrade of semiconductor stocks also limited a broad advance.
Higher oil prices helped lift the S&P 500, with the S&P energy sector index .GSPE up 1.1 percent. U.S. oil futures CLZ9 shot up $1.47, or 1.88 percent, to settle at $79.60 a barrel.
Today’s MarketsThe Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 17.53 points, or 0.18%, to 9771.91, the S&P 500rose 2.53 points, or 0.24%, to 1045.41 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 8.12 points, or 0.40%, to 2057.32.
While it was a mixed day on Wall Street, the markets closed well off their worst levels of the day as an early 86-point decline on the Dow was mostly erased.
“The market is in a little bit of quicksand here. We just seem to be on the negative side of the equation,” lamented NYSE trader Ted Weisberg of Seaport Securities. “They continue to look kind of tired to me.”
Wall Street struggled to rally around Buffett's $44 billion deal to buy the rest of railroader Burlington Northern Sante Fe that his Berkshire Hathaway holding company doesn’t already own. The deal, Buffett’s largest ever, is worth $100 a share, a 31% premium to the company’s closing price Monday. Buffett said the move represents a “huge bet” on BNI, its management team and the railroad industry. “Most important of all, however, it's an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States."
Global Markets
European markets tumbled. London's FTSE 100 sank 1.78% to 5013.64, Paris' CAC 40 was down 1.79% to 3574.20 and Frankfurt, Germany's DAX lost 1.41% to 5354.10.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 2.31% to 9802.95 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.76% to 21240.06 but China's Shanghai Composite rose 1.22% to 3114.23.
“The market is in a little bit of quicksand here. We just seem to be on the negative side of the equation,” lamented NYSE trader Ted Weisberg of Seaport Securities. “They continue to look kind of tired to me.”
Wall Street struggled to rally around Buffett's $44 billion deal to buy the rest of railroader Burlington Northern Sante Fe that his Berkshire Hathaway holding company doesn’t already own. The deal, Buffett’s largest ever, is worth $100 a share, a 31% premium to the company’s closing price Monday. Buffett said the move represents a “huge bet” on BNI, its management team and the railroad industry. “Most important of all, however, it's an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States."
Global MarketsEuropean markets tumbled. London's FTSE 100 sank 1.78% to 5013.64, Paris' CAC 40 was down 1.79% to 3574.20 and Frankfurt, Germany's DAX lost 1.41% to 5354.10.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 2.31% to 9802.95 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.76% to 21240.06 but China's Shanghai Composite rose 1.22% to 3114.23.
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