Broader Wall Street tickers the Dow and S&P500 staged a comeback late on Wednesday after a rally by oil prices, while the Nasdaq pared losses on the day after also getting briefly into the black.
After a session marred by poor US data which sent the dollar south against the euro, stock markets managed to stage a return to favour as the US crude oil benchmark, the West Texas Intermediate deliverable in March, rose 8.2% to US$32.34.
At the close, the S&P 500 was up 10 points at 1,913 and the Dow Jones was 183 points to the good at 16,336 but the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was 13 points softer at 4,504 as the likes of Google, Microsoft and Facebook finished in the red.
Among top gainers in the DJIA were Stone Energy (NYSE:SGY), up 15% at US$2.81, despite enduring a downgrade to in-line from outperform by Imperial Capital . Even battery maker Energizer Holdings (NYSE:ENR) fared well with a 16% gain to US$36.73 after topping expectations on sales.
MID-SESSION
The largest intra-day fall in the US dollar versus the euro since December in the wake of disappointing services data pushed Wall Street tickers down on Wednesday, even as oil futures rose on a weaker currency.
The US services industry expanded at its slowest rate in nearly two years in January, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The dollar reacted by easing against the European currency largely as investors sensed the Federal Reserve would put rate hikes on hold. Hitherto, the big money was on a second successive hike in March.
Meanwhile, the US oil price benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, for March delivery shot 6.22% higher to US$31.74, having slid beneath US$30 a barrel on Tuesday on oversupply of the fuel.
At the mid-session, the S&P500 was down 0.8% at 1,887.15, while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.3% lower at 4,456.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, was little changed on the day at 16,119.26, down 0.2%.
Conatus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNAT), up 22.6%, was one of the big movers. The Food and Drug Administration has granted fast track designation for the company's emricasan development program for the treatment of liver cirrhosis caused by nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
Going the other way was Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM), down 35.3%. The dry cargo and container vessels operator plunged after its fourth quarter results that showed underlying earnings (EBITDA) slipped to $35.7mln from $39.3mln the year before.
OPEN
Hopes that stocks would halt yesterday's alarming slide were dashed, despite a recovery in oil prices.
The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate for March delivery rose 2.1% to climb back above 30 bucks a barrel at US$30.50, while the European counterpart, Brent crude, advanced 2.3% to US$33.47 a barrel.
Part of the reason for oil's rally was a slide in the value of the greenback following underwhelming services data - because oil prices are quoted in dollars, a weaker US currency is good for the oil price.
The US services industry expanded at its slowest rate in almost two years in January, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The ISM's Purchasing Managers' Index eased to 53.5 from 55.8 in December, the lowest figure since February 2014.
The private sector payrolls read from ADP was a bit more heartening, with a 205,000 increase in private payrolls, versus the 197,000 increase economists had been predicting.
The Dow Jones was off 96 points at 16,057 after an hour's trading, while the broader-based S&P 500 was down 21 points at 1,881. The Nasdaq Composite was harder hit, shedding 1.5% at 4,447.