Wall Street shares end lower
Heathcare vote delayed
Big blow to President Trump
CLOSE
Having been higher earlier, shares on Wall Street finished lower as there was a delay to the much flagged health care vote.
Parts of the Republican party forced a postponement on the vote
Repealing and replacing Obamacare was a major theme within Trump's election campaign.
Investors are watching the vote's passage in Congress to see what it says about President Trump’s ability to enact his plans for economic growth.
The Dow Jones fell 4.72 to 20.656 - the sixth day of falls in a row.
The broader based S &P500 shed 2.49 to stand at 2,345, while the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 3.45 to close at 5,817.
In equities, car giant Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F) was a notable loser, shedding 0.85% to $11.67 after it's first-quarter earnings outlook fell short.
The top gainer on S&P was PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH),which gained 8.48% to $98.55. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 2.69% after yesterday's results.
MID-SESSION
US shares were heading higher into the close with biotech stocks doing well as traders still await the result of the vote on the healthcare bill.
The Dow Jones is up over 62 points at 20,722, while the tech heavy Nasdaq is up 14 points to stand at 5,835.
The broader based S&P500 is up over five points at 2,353.
On the data front, sales of new US family homes rose more than expected in February, which may have buoyed markets.
New home sales were up 6.1% to 592,000 from the revised January rate of 558,000.
On the commodities front, gold continues to fall from earlier, down 0.5%to US$1,246.40 an ounce.
WTI Crude - the US benchmark- dropped 0.4% to US$ 47.82 a barrel.
Telecoms stocks lagged with China Mobile Ltd (NYSE: CHL), down 3%, and Partner Communications Company (NASDAQ: PTNR) losing 1.5%.
On Nasdaq, the runaway winner was HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:HTGM) which sky rocketed over 104% to $4.38.
The firm said it had been granted CE marking in the European Union for its in vitro diagnostic assay used to measure and analyze gene rearrangements in lung tumor specimens.
The HTG EdgeSeq ALKPlus Assay EU is intended for patients previously diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
It potentially fires the starting gun on sales of the product in Europe.
OPEN
Wall Street shares were heading north at the open despite fears over whether Trump's policy pledges will fly in the light of the potential vote to overhaul health care plan Obamacare.
The new president Trump is due to meet at the White House with members of the Freedom Caucus - a Conservative Republican group who want to make alterations to the plan, later today.
The Dow Jones is up 22 at the time of writing, at 20,687, while the broader based S&P500 is around four points ahead at 2,352.
The tech heavy Nasdaq is up nearly nine to stand at 5,830.
Mike van Dulken, head of research at London-based Accendo Markets, said: "Global equities are in a holding pattern after the recent sell-off.
"Investors are waiting to see whether Trump gets his Obamacare repeal through the House of Representatives, to keep markets bullish about his ability to deliver on the pro-growth policies that got him elected."
Meanwhile, in company news, motoring giant Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F) fell 0.2% after it gave a first-quarter earnings outlook that was below expectations.
Its finance chief said the global car giant’s first-quarter earnings per share was expected to be lower year-on-year due to higher costs, lower volumes, and unfavourable exchange rates.
Meanwhile, Cancer Genetics Inc (NASDAQ:CGIX) shot up 15% to US$3.35 in early deals as the cancer diagnostics specialist unveiled record fourth quarter revenues.
Fourth quarter revenues advanced 32% to US$7.23mln from US$5.48mln the year before.
The company said growth was driven by organic growth across all market categories: biopharma, clinical and discovery.
The firm still made a net loss, but this narrowed to US$2.78mln from US$5.71mln the year before.
Consulting and outsourcing group Accenture Plc (NYSE: ACN) , down 3.41% to $122.17, reported a smaller quarterly profit on and revealed it had been hurt in part by higher costs.
PREVIEW
Futures trading is pointing to a higher open on Wall Street after a mixed session yesterday as traders take stock and await the next triggers for movement.
European indices are nudging generally higher, while in London , FTSE 100 is near flat at 7,322, with retailers making gains.
It comes after a terror attack sent the UK capital reeling on Wednesday evening and saw a man shot dead by armed police after he tried to enter the Palace of Westminster and had stabbed a police officer, who later died.
On Wall Street , the Dow Jones closed 6.71 lower at 20,661; the Nasdaq closed 27 higher at 5,821, while the S&P500 added over four points to 2,348, with tech stocks making gains.
Today, Dow futures are seen up eight points, the S&P500O are four points to the good, while Nasdaq futures are 6.5 higher.
The question facing US investors is can Trump deliver on some of his election pledges ahead of a potential storm ahead as the Republican health-care bill is set for a vote in Congress today (Thursday).
Today is a fairly big one on then macro economic front, with initial jobless claims data for the latest week due for release this morning.
Date data on new home sales for February will be released at 10am, while Fed Reserve chairman Janet Yellen is also set to speak in Washington this morning.
Her comments will be closely watched as a signal on what to expect on rate rises for the rest of 2017 and what she says on the general state of the US economy.
In terms of earnings, Accenture Plc (NYSE: ACN) is expected to report earnings before the bell .
Also in focus is online retail giant Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) after reports suggest that the platform has agreed to buy the Arab world's leading online retailer Souq.
Also in the news is that American Airlines may reportedly buy a $200 million stake in China Southern Airlines.