The S& P 500 closed flat on Tuesday, recovering slightly from Monday's strong start to the quarter, weighed down by a sharp fall in the shares of WBA.O., and economic data did not alleviate concerns about economic growth.
Wobolian, a chain drugstore, plunged 12.8 percent after the company lowered its profit growth forecast for 2019 and reported quarterly earnings lower than analysts expected.
Standard & Poor's consumer necessities sector, including Warburg United, fell 0.8%. Competitor drugstores, CVS Health (CVS.N), fell 3.8%. Drug wholesalers Amerisource Bergen Corp (ABC.N), Cardinal Health Inc (CAH.N) and McKesson Corp (MCK.N) also fell.
Warburg United has the biggest drag on the three major U.S. stock indexes. CVS and drug wholesalers also have a greater drag on the S&P 500 index.
However, the Nasdaq index rose as Facebook (FB.O) jumped 3.3%.
Data show that new orders for U.S. property capital fell in February and shipments remained flat, which did not help boost moderate investor confidence.
Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft fell 0.1% in February, and analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected to be flat.
Previous surveys have shown an unexpected rebound in manufacturing activity in China and better-than-expected U.S. data pushed the S&P 500 index to its highest level in nearly six months on Monday.
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