NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Tuesday as gains in Walgreens and Best Buy helped investors assuage worries around the economic fallout of stricter COVID-19 curbs in China.
Dow component Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc rose 1.9% after Cowen & Co upgraded the drug distributor stock, citing its healthcare services business push.
Best Buy Co Inc soared 9.4%, rising the most among S&P 500 components after forecasting a smaller-than-expected drop in annual sales.
The retailer said top-end iPhone 14 models could be in short supply during the holiday season. Earlier this month, Apple Inc lowered shipment forecast for its premium models due to lower production at supplier Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory, which has been hit by lockdowns in China.
Shares of Apple dipped 0.1%, weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index.
Markets were cautious as China strengthened its fight against COVID-19 with Beijing shutting parks, malls and museums, while other cities resumed mass testing.
“The markets are moved by China again. Dynamic zero COVID again,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital in New York.
US-listed shares of Chinese companies including Pinduoduo Inc, Bilibili Inc and JD.com Inc slipped between 2.4% and 2.8%.
However, Hayes said there was a little bit of relief in risk markets, thanks to a drop in the dollar and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note.
At 10:07 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 267.99 points, or 0.80%, at 33,968.27, the S&P 500 was up 19.71 points, or 0.50%, at 3,969.65, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.11 points, or 0.01%, at 11,025.62.
Energy led gains among the 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes, bouncing off four-week lows by adding 2%.
Tesla Inc shares attempted to recoup some declines, rising 0.9%, after falling 6.8% in the previous session.
Investors will keep a watch on remarks by St. Louis President James Bullard and Kansas City President Esther George, while awaiting minutes from the Fed’s November meeting on Wednesday for clarity on the monetary policy tightening path.
In the previous session, markets took comfort from Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester supporting a smaller rate hike in December and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly stressing the need to be careful to avoid a “painful downturn”.
Among other stocks, Medtronic Plc slipped 6.7% as the medical device company lowered its full-year profit outlook, while Zoom Video Communications dropped 7.9% after cutting its annual revenue forecast.
Analysts expect thin trading volumes as markets will be shut on Thursday for Thanksgiving holiday and will remain open for half day on Friday.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.70-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.12-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 19 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 49 new highs and 122 new lows.
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