Pfizer buys Allergan but deal fails to excite Wall Street – New York Report
New York investors yesterday appeared largely unemotive by a mega deal between Botox-maker Allergan and Viagra producer Pfizer.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 31.13 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 17,792.68, the S&P 500 lost 2.58 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 2,086.59 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.44 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 5,102.48.
Pfizer’s announcement of what is expected to be the biggest-ever healthcare deal pushed its shares down 2.6 per cent making it one of the biggest drags on the S&P. Target company Allergan closed 3.4 per cent lower after the $160bn (£105bn) deal announcement. “Today was a dull day unless you’re involved in Pfizer or Allergan. Away from that, it’s kind of aimless,” said Brian Fenske, head of sales trading at ITG in New York. “Nobody was panicking when the market was going lower.”
The staples were the strongest, led by a 10.2 per cent increase in shares of Tyson Foods to $48.09 after its quarterly sales beat estimates.
After a week when the S&P 500 had its best performance of the year, investors were unimpressed by yesterday’s economic data and some were concerned that economic growth may be slower than expected, said Stephen Massocca, chief investment officer of Wedbush Equity Management LLC in San Francisco.
“We had a very large rally last week and it’s not surprising to see the market correct after that,” he said.
The energy sector rose 0.7 per cent, as crude prices were volatile after Saudi Arabia agreed to cooperate with other oil producers to stabilise prices but traders worried about a global supply glut and signs of rising US stockpiles.