The S&P 500 fell 0.3 per cent in afternoon trading, though it’s still near its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones was down 242 points, or 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2 per cent from its record set the day before.The Australian sharemarket is set to edge up, with futures at 5.07am AEDT pointing to a gain of 7 points, or 0.1 per cent, at the open. The ASXon Tuesday. The Australian dollar retreated. It was 0.5 per cent lower at 63.40 US cents at 5.
Across a survey of global fund managers, strategists at Bank of America found many ploughing into US stocks and pulling out of their cash reserves to do so. The survey found fund managers are holding a notably small percentage of their overall portfolios in cash, similar to 2002 and 2011, which preceded tougher times for riskier investments.
A report on Tuesday showed sales at US retailers grew more last month than economists expected. That could be an indication of an economy that doesn’t need much more help from easier interest rates. While lower rates can goose the economy, they can also give inflation more fuel. On Wall Street, Broadcom fell 5.1 per cent and was heading for its first loss following two big gains where it led the market. The tech company’s stock leaped 24.4 per cent and then 11.2 per cent in consecutive days after delivering a stronger profit report than analysts expected and giving a forecast for upcoming revenue that was also encouraging thanks to demand for its artificial-intelligence products.Pfizer helped limit the losses after rising 4.6 per cent.