US Stock Market Overview – Stocks Drop on US/Iran Conflict

 

US stocks traded under pressure on Tuesday, as the rhetoric between the US and Iran, drove investors away from riskier assets. Gold prices continued to rise along with bitcoin. US yields traded lower as investors continued to gobble up bonds. Most sectors in the S&P 500 were lower, driven down by technology, materials bucked the trend. Higher gold prices continue to drive up the share prices of miners.

Trump Threatened Iran

President Trump on Tuesday threatened a strong response in the event of an attack by Iran, a day after he imposed sanctions that aim to freeze the assets of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s. Trump said that ny attack by Iran will be met with great and overwhelming force. Mr. Trump’s tweets ratcheted back up the tensions between Washington and Tehran that have oscillated in recent days since Iran downed a US military drone last week.

The US president initially suggested he didn’t believe the downing of the drone was intentional, but later ordered retaliatory strikes in Iran, only to abandon them, saying estimates provided to him showed as many as 150 people could have been killed. Earlier Tuesday, Iran said the new U.S. sanctions closed the door on diplomacy and threatened global stability. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the sanctions outrageous and said it was obvious that the US was lying about wanting to negotiate with Iran.

AbbView Agreed to Buy Allergan

AbbVie Inc. agreed to buy Allergan AGN 25.36% for about $63 billion, as the two big drug makers bet a combination will deliver new sources of growth they have struggled to find on their own. The takeover is worth about $188 a share in cash and stock, the companies said in a statement. The price represents a 45% premium over Allergan’s closing share price Monday of $129.57. If not for a surge in the shares in recent days on expectations for a breakup of the company, the premium would be even bigger. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Tuesday that the deal was imminent. Buying Dublin-based Allergan would deliver a dominant position in the $8 billion-plus market for Botox and other beauty drugs, as well as a number of popular eye treatments, as AbbVie braces for the end of patent protection for the world’s top-selling drug, Humira.