Around 1 pm on the east coast the U.S. markets sit lower, but only moderately so. Equities have actually rebounded in the last hour or so, halving their losses from earlier today. The Dow currently sits down by 33 points. The Nasdaq is lower by 16 points, and the S&P 500 is down by 6.
All the major sectors are lower, but most are just moderately so. Healthcare stocks are actually the weakest sector today, led lower by biotechs which have been among the strongest performers in the past couple of weeks. Amgen Inc (Nasdaq:AMGN) is lower by 2.57% after concerns over its anemia drug, Aranesp. Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq:GILD) and Genentech Inc (NYSE:DNA) are also lower by 2.24% and 2.03% respectively.
Financial stocks are broadly lower on the day so far. Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) is lower by 1.52% as the major banks fall on the day. Marsh and McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) shares are plunging by over 5% after news of their Broker unit CEO's departure. MMC shares hit a new 52 week low this morning. The major investment banks are lower as investors anticipate weak earnings reports beginning tommorrow with Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH). Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) currently leads the group lower today, down by 2.27%.
Technology stocks are mostly lower on the day, though there are some notable exceptions. Baidu.com Inc. (Nasdaq:BIDU) shares are surging by 4.67% to another 52 week high on strong volume after the price target for the Chinese company was raised to $333 by an analyst at RBC. VMWare Inc. (NYSE:VMW) shares are lower by 4.08% after the company reported its earnings this morning. The results were quite good, but it appears to be a buy the rumor sell the news situation for the stock.
Volume is very light on the major exchanges, with the NYSE volume barely above 500 million at 1 pm. Investors are eager to see what the FOMC has to say tommorrow in the all-important monetary policy statement.
It is safe to say that today will likely be the quietest day of the week on the street, so if you enjoy volatility on wall street, don't worry your day is coming.
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