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Dow Drops 628 Points as Amgen Sinks on Trial Failure
By @sharedot · · 6 pages
The Dow fell 1.2% on Tuesday while Amgen posted its worst day since October 2000 after Novartis reported a failed heart drug trial.
A Risk-Off Session on Wall Street
A escalating trade war in North America and renewed conflict in the Middle East drove a second straight down day for the major indexes as traders returned from a three-day weekend. Kiplinger reports that the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.2% at 52,786, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.6% to 7,673 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3% to 26,421. Utility stocks led the 11 S&P sectors, with energy and real estate also higher, but tech broadly lagged.
Amgen's Worst Day in Nearly 26 Years
According to Kiplinger, Amgen (AMGN) plunged 10.1%, its steepest one-day sell-off since a 13.4% drop on October 27, 2000, making it the worst performer in the Dow. The trigger came from a rival's data: Novartis (NVS), down 13.9%, reported that its experimental cardiovascular treatment pelacarsen failed to meet phase 3 trial expectations. Traders are selling Amgen because the negative result suggests a similar outcome for its own heart disease drug, olpasiran.
Chips Defy the Sell-Off
Semiconductors surged against the broader tech weakness. Kiplinger reports Intel (INTC) jumped 9.1% after announcing a 10% price increase to support margins amid a CPU shortage, prompting Northland Securities analyst Gus Richard to upgrade the stock to Outperform, citing material progress in its turnaround. Qualcomm (QCOM) gained 3.2% on a deal to supply Amazon with custom AI chips, while AMD advanced 5.9% and Marvell rose 0.8%. Investor's Business Daily separately noted SK Hynix cleared a buy point.
Inflation Data and the Fed Take Center Stage
Markets now await the August PPI on Thursday and the August CPI report before Friday's open, ahead of next week's FOMC meeting. According to Kiplinger, CME Group FedWatch shows futures pricing a 60.4% probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike, up from 44.4% a month ago, following a blowout August jobs report. Treasury yields ticked higher across the curve, and West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.4% to $93.65, with Brent approaching $100, on war-related damage to energy infrastructure near the Strait of Hormuz.