It's a case of bad news bears for oil prices. US data showing crude oil stockpiles were lower than expected falling by 2.5 million barrels to 509.1 million barrels as of week ending 16 June sparked a fledging rally which wasn't sustained.

US crude oil prices slipped -2.16% to $42.57 falling into bear market territory. Oil prices fall 20% or more is defined as a bear market. 

Oil prices remain under pressure as investors are pestered by rising production from members outside the OPEC cartel, US oil output and an OPEC production cut policy that isn't working.

Energy stocks dragged on Wall Street causing the Dow and the S&P 500 to drift lower. The Dow fell -0.27% at 21,409.41 and the S&P 500 -0.07% at 2,435.48. 

However, the Nasdaq remained buoyant up +0.74% at 6,233.95 propelled by pharmaceuticals which were among the biggest mover on the index.

• Dow 21,409.41 -0.27%
• S&P 500 2,435.48 -0.07%
• Nasdaq 6,233.95 +0.74%
• Russell 2000 1,399.90 -0.22%
• NYSE Composite 11,696.52 -0.36%
• Gold 1,247.80 +0.16% 
• Oil WTI $44.81 -0.02%

• 10-Year Yield 2.16% +0.00

Trump drug price policy: faint pulse

Pharmaceuticals and biotech were among the day's winners rallying as media reports suggested Trump's executive order on drug pricing will be a softer approach than expected from the sound and fury on display during his campaigning days. 

Vertex Pharmaceuticals was just shy off the top of its day's range up +6.73% at $134.83, surging +82.82% year to date, while Advanced Micro Devices rose +11.31% at $14.07. Tech company, CA Inc charged up 13.36% at $35.80.

Nasdaq biotechnology index jumped 128.71 or 4.05% at 3,306.26 while the Dow US health care index went up 1.29% and its biotechnology index 1.03%.

Pharmaceuticals and pills Source: Shutterstock.com

The NYTimes, which said it obtained a draft of the executive order on drug prices wrote it "appears to give the pharmaceutical industry much of what it has asked for - and no guarantee that costs to consumers will drop."

On the campaign trail Trump, regularly took the industry to task for its high drug prices and has accused the industry of getting "away with murder".

The Federal Drug Administration Commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, according to Reuters, is also looking to change the regulatory system to inhibit pharmaceuticals from 'gaming' the system by delaying generic drug approval as a means to reduce competition. 

Cloud computing Source: Shutterstock.com

Battle of the cloud

Amazon's $13.7 bn deal for Whole Foods (+1.12%) announced last Friday overshadowed an entire sector as other food retailers like Kroger (-0.04%), Sprouts Farmers Market (-0.47%) endured the fallout with plummeting share prices. Both grocers continued sliding in Wednesday trading. 

Amazon closed up 0.97% at $1,002.23 on Wednesday. Wal-Mart too suffered a backlash falling from two-year highs in the rout last week but has recovered some way closing +0.93% to $76.24. Wal-Mart which engages in retail and wholesale has $485.14 bn in sales and the Amazon Whole Foods deal, according to experts, effectively is no match competitively for the US' largest retailer. 

It is reported by Dow Jones Newswires, however, that Wal-Mart is erecting a fence around cloud computing and "telling some technology companies that to keep their business, they cannot run applications for the retailer on Amazon's cloud-computing service, Amazon Web Services. 

Wal-Mart spokesman, Dan Toporek, couched the move as a preference for not having its 'sensitive data on a competitor's platform'.