Wall Street turns lower as global worries weigh

By Noel Randewich

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks moved lower on Tuesday as concerns about the health of the global economy kept investors cautious after more than month of turbulence.

A rebound in healthcare stocks lost some steam in afternoon trading, but the sector looked set to snap a seven-day losing streak, providing a degree of succour to traders worried about a China-led global slowdown.

"There are a lot of balls juggling at the moment. When you have uncertainty, investors become less confident and less likely to make a stand and commit in a big way," said Gordon Charlop, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities in New York.

 

Seven of the 10 S&P sectors were lower, with the technology index <.SPLRCT> down 0.9 percent. Apple fell 2.46 percent a day after reporting record first-weekend sales of its newest iPhones.

The healthcare index <.SPXHC> was up 0.76 percent thanks in part to gains in Johnson & Johnson and Gilead Sciences .

Pharmaceutical and biotech stocks had faced pressure after Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton criticized drug pricing last week.

At 3:04 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 0.19 percent at 15,972.16 points. The S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 0.3 percent to 1,876.06 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 0.82 percent to 4,506.51.

Investors are awaiting data scheduled to be released this week, culminating in nonfarm payrolls numbers on Friday.

A report on Tuesday showed the consumer confidence index rose to 103.0 in September, topping economists' expectation of 96.1.

With third-quarter earnings season looming, Goldman Sachs said it expects sales growth for S&P 500 companies to shrink this year for the first time in five years.

U.S. companies reporting earnings on Tuesday include Costco and Diamond Foods .

Yahoo shares rose 2.02 percent, a day after the Internet company's board decided to proceed with spinning off Alibaba stake.

Nexstar rose 7.69 percent after activist investor Starboard Value LP urged regional TV company Media General to sell itself to Nexstar. [ID: nL3N11Z4EU]

Republic Airways was up 8.18 percent after Deutsche Bank raised the stock to "buy" and the airline reached agreement on new contract with its pilots.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,738 to 1,303. On the Nasdaq, 1,730 issues fell and 1,030 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed one new 52-week high and 63 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 14 new highs and 273 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar and Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Nick Zieminski)