US equities fluctuated between gains and losses on Tue. The S&P 500 eventually closed up 0.25%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed, advancing 0.98%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 84.96 pts or 0.26% lower to close at 32,160.74. The small-cap Russell 2000 dropped 0.02%.
At one point, the Dow rose more than 500 points but later sagged to a session low of roughly 350 pts.
Pfizer (PFE US, +1.75%) will acquire Biohaven (BHVN US, +68.39%) for $11.6b in cash to gain treatment for migraines.
The benchmark 10-year note yield dropped below 3%. The yield on the 10-year slipped 4.3 basis points (bps) to 2.9908%.
Inflation expectations continued their recent trend of decline. The 10-year TIPS (Treasury inflation-protected securities) breakeven rate fell as low as 2.695%, its lowest since early Mar.
The ICE dollar index (DXY), which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.26% to 103.920.
The front-month Brent and WTI futures closed down $3.48 at US$102.46/bbl and closed down $3.33 at US$99.76/bbl respectively.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 1.2% on Tue, after falling to its lowest since Dec15 the day before.
The most actively traded US gold futures (Jun) contracts settled down $17.60, or 0.9%, at US$1,841.00/oz. July silver, which is the most actively traded silver futures, fell 39.6 cents, or 1.8%, to end at US$21.424/oz.
European equity markets finished higher on Tue. The UK FTSE gained 0.37%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.51%, while the German DAX advanced 1.15%.
Swedish Match (SWMA SS, +25%) surged after the nicotine products company confirmed it had received a takeover approach from Philip Morris (PM US, -1%).