Healthcare stocks rose Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) each adding about 0.5%.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) gained 1.9%.
In corporate news, Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Orbis Medicines struck an up to $1.4 billion licensing deal for the private company to develop oral drugs for cardiometabolic diseases. Novo will also make a "strategic investment" in Orbis. Novo shares rose 3.3%.
Energy stocks were lower late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index falling 3.1% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) dropping 2.8%.The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was shedding 3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index decreased 0.2%.Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 3.7% to $101.89 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract shed 3.2% to $105.27 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures declined 1% to $2.89 per 1 million BTU.US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 1.0 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 11 following a decrease of 1.6 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 600,000 barrels after a 400,000-barrel decline in the previous week, a smaller decline than the 1.5-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.In corporate news, National Fuel Gas (NFG) is exploring options for its integrated natural gas production business, Reuters reported. Any deal would value the unit at about $5 billion, the report said. Shares of the company were down 1.4%.Chord Energy (CHRD) said Wednesday it has agreed to sell gas-producing land assets to Posco International for $550 million. Chord Energy shares fell 6.3%.Exxon Mobil (XOM) won approval for its Rose carbon-capture project in Texas, allowing the company to move forward with the development, Bloomberg reported. Exxon Mobil shares were down 3.4%.Delixy (DLXY) said it has struck a non-binding letter of intent with Caog for the acquisition or merger of up to 48% of shares in Tarbagatay Munay, the subsoil user and operator of the oil and gas project of Sarybulak Oil Field in East Kazakhstan. Delixy shares surged 389%.
Financial stocks were lower in late Wednesday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index falling 1.8% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) dropping 2.3%The Philadelphia Housing Index shed 2.1%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLRE) fell 1%.Bitcoin (BTC-USD) decreased 0.4% to $75,280, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries rose 1 basis point to 5.01%.In economic news, the Federal Open Market Committee raised the target range for its federal funds rate to 3.75% to 4.00% Wednesday on a 12-0 vote, while projections suggest another rate hike is possible this year. "Inflation remains elevated," the FOMC said in its statement. "Today's policy action will support a timelier return to the Committee's 2% goal. The Committee will deliver price stability." Median expectations in the Summary of Economic Projections now show a further rate hike this year, as the median expectation was adjusted up to 4.1% from 3.8% in the previous update in June, reflecting both Wednesday's action and expectations for a further increase.In other economic news, US retail sales rebounded more than expected in August as higher fuel prices lifted spending at gasoline stations and outlays on motor vehicles turned positive.Mortgage applications in the US declined last week as the 30-year fixed rate reached its highest level since May 2025, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.US homebuilder confidence this month hit its lowest level since September 2025 amid elevated mortgage rates and material costs, the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo said.In corporate news, BlackRock (BLK) plans to work with corporate clients to create customizable 401(k) investment funds that can include public stocks and bonds, private assets, and annuities, the Wall Street Journal reported. BlackRock shares were down 2.5%.KKR (KKR) has emerged as the top bidder for Logoplaste, a packaging maker based in Portugal, Bloomberg reported. KKR shares fell 3.2%.American Savings Bank (ASBH) shares rose over 5% in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange.CoinShares (CSHR) said Wednesday that its shareholders approved all resolutions put to them at Tuesday's extraordinary general meeting, including authority to buy back up to 25% of its outstanding ordinary shares and adoption of the 2026 equity incentive plan. CoinShares shares rose 1.3%.
Tech stocks were mixed late Wednesday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) up 0.1% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) down 0.4%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor index was up 0.4%.In corporate news, Amazon-backed (AMZN) Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been called to attend a hearing on Oct. 5 amid mounting concerns about AI risks, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin said Wednesday. Amazon shares were down 1.3%, and Microsoft shed 1.7%.Apple (AAPL) is developing an AI enterprise server with its M-series processors while holding talks to incorporate Nvidia's (NVDA) networking technology, The Information reported. Apple shares were up 0.1%, and Nvidia added 0.7%.SK Hynix (SKHY) said Wednesday no deals have been finalized regarding a potential US memory chip partnership with Intel (INTC), in response to a media report that the companies are discussing a possible joint venture or use of Intel's Ohio plant. SK Hynix shares were down 0.7%, and Intel gained 3.3%.CoreWeave (CRWV) shares rose 3% after the company added multirack Nvidia (NVDA) Vera Rubin NVL72 systems to its cloud, allowing hundreds of Nvidia Rubin GPUs to operate as a single cluster for AI training and inference.