Major stock indexes faced pressure on Tuesday with a fresh slate of geopolitical tensions weighing on investors. The Dow industrials are down about 1%. Meanwhile, quantum computing stocks are on the rise. Biotech's Amgen...not so much.
Here is what is driving the markets today:
War hits gas pumps, again: Oil prices have been volatile. U.S. crude prices are up to about $92 a barrel, and the international benchmark, Brent crude, flirted with the $100 level after Iran-backed Houthis struck oil and gas storage facilities and refineries in Saudi Arabia. Fresh attacks on infrastructure further disrupt a supply chain already weakened by blockades in the region.
New duties, new headaches: Canadian tariffs on about $20 billion of U.S. goods took effect Tuesday. The previously-announced retaliatory levies ranging from 15% to 50% affect a variety of products from steel and appliances to dairy and electronics.
CHIPS Act goes quantum: Uncle Sam is taking minority equity stakes in three quantum computing firms through $300 million in research-and-development grants via the CHIPS Act. D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing and Quantinuum will each receive $100 million each to support the development of domestic semiconductor and advanced-hardware supply chains.
Novartis flop whacks Amgen: An experimental cardiovascular treatment from Switzerland's Novartis failed to reduce cardiovascular risk in a late-stage clinical trial. To investors, that spells bad news for competitors like Amgen who are developing similar drugs. Amgen shares are down more than 9%.
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