Close Update: Wall Street Braces For Yellen on Friday, Gives Up Gains on Weak Housing Data, Oil

Wall Street returned all of Tuesday’s gains and traded lower throughout the day as disappointing housing market data coupled with a drop in oil prices drove the benchmark indices into the red with the healthcare and materials sector taking the brunt of today’s losses.

Investors’ appetite for risk was also hindered by Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s upcoming speech on Friday at the start of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. After hawkish comments from Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, NY Fed President William Dudley and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, all of whom weighed in on the likelihood for another rate hike this year, the consensus is for Yellen to echo their remarks and sound equally hawkish.

Wednesday morning’s data included a below-consensus 0.2% increase in the June Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) house price index to 234.8, and a 3.2% drop in existing home sales to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 5.39 million, missing expectations for a 0.9% decline to a SAAR of 5.52 million.

Related markets were mixed with the dollar higher against the yen and euro and sending gold more than $18 lower to a one-month low. Treasury yields were higher in the short and long end of the curve but unchanged in the belly.

Here’s where the markets stood at the close:

US MARKETS

Dow Jones Industrial Index was down 65.82 points (-0.35%)

S&P 500 was down 11.46 points (-0.52%)

Nasdaq Composite Index was down 42.38 points (-0.81%)

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

FTSE 100 was down 0.48%

Nikkei 225 was up 0.61%

Hang Seng Index was down 0.77%

Shanghai China Composite Index was down 0.13%

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) URRE (+17.42%) Acquired potential lithium-bearing properties in Nevada

(+) LCI (+13.57%) Beat Q4 estimates, forecasting FY17 sales above street projections

(+) OCLS (+14.90%) Gets FDA clearance for new post-dermal procedures product

(+) LEI (+8.81%) Shareholders approve Segundo Resources purchase and financing

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) EXPR (-25.51%) Misses Q2 estimates and guides Q3, FY earnings below expectations

(-) LZB (-12.69%) Q1 results missed expectations, revenue fell from year ago, missing estimates

(-) DY (-7.49%) Beats Wall Street Q4 expectations, but guides Q1 EPS in-line