Stocks move lower for second day; Valeant falls sharply

U.S. stocks edged lower on Thursday as investors digested mixed healthcare and tech earnings a day ahead of Friday’s United States jobs report. Nevertheless, the blue-chip benchmark managed to avoid closing in negative ground on a year-to-date basis, despite exploring this territory around midday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 33 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,902 as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern.

The Dow is up 199.89 points, or 1.1 percent. The NASDAQ composite index also went down by 2.65 points or 0.1 percent to 5,142.48.

In corporate news, shares of UBS fell 5.83 percent to 19.22 dollars apiece Tuesday, after Switzerland’s biggest bank posted lower-than-expected quarterly profit.

In a separate report, the department announced that United States nonfarm business sector labour productivity increased at a 1.6-percent annual rate during the third quarter of 2015, beating market consensus of 0.1 percent.

About 7.3 billion shares changed hands on USA exchanges, compared with the 7 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Besides, traders will mainly look to non-farm payrolls this week for hints on the timing of the interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, denominated in euros, was down 0.4 percent at 1,495.00, pulled down by the translation effects on pound-denominated stocks of a sharp drop in sterling.

FED WATCH: Testifying before a committee of the U.S. Congress, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen described the US economy as “performing well” and an interest rate hike in December as a “live possibility” if the economy stays on track. Her view was echoed by another Fed policymaker later in the day.

Earlier in Asia, Chinese stocks rallied, driven by expectations that authorities in the world’s second-largest economy will make it easier for investors to access the market.

The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery moved down $1.12 to settle at $45.2 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for December delivery decreased 60 cents to close at $47.98 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. USA stocks closed modestly lower after wavering in a tight range on Wednesday, as investors assessed Yellen’s comments about rate hikes.

In commodities, US-traded crude oil fell 2.4 per cent to $US45.20 a barrel, after falling sharply Wednesday on higher United States oil inventories.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0963 dollars from 1.1021 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 121.06 Japanese yen, higher than 120.75 yen of the previous session.