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Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Fall Pre-Bell Tuesday

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Healthcare stocks were falling pre-bell Tuesday, with the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) slightly down and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) 0.5% lower.

Ascendis Pharma (ASND) will regain exclusive rights to certain drug treatments for metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, including obesity, having terminated a 2024 collaboration deal with Novo Nordisk (NVO), the company said. Shares of Ascendis Pharma were down more than 2% premarket.

Vera Therapeutics' (VERA) kidney disease treatment Trutakna achieved all prespecified endpoints during a final review of its Origin 3 study, with full US Food and Drug Administration approval expected in 2027, the drugmaker said. Vera Therapeutics stock was up more than 14% pre-bell.

Ocular Therapeutix (OCUL) shares were up more than 2% after the company said its marketing application for Axpaxli, its experimental treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration, remains on track for submission in Q4 following its meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration.

What else is happening in Sectors?

Sectors

Sector Update: Energy Stocks Fall Monday

Energy stocks fell Monday with the NYSE Energy Sector Index dropping 1% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) shedding 0.9%.The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index slumped 4%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index declined 0.9%.Oil prices rose after Iran claimed to have destroyed an advanced US drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said that Iran wants to reach a deal with Washington.West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.6% to $101.64 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent added 1.4% to $106.05 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures gained 1.5% to $2.87 per 1 million BTU.In corporate news, Chevron (CVX) is considering expanding its global gas portfolio to the Mediterranean and Argentina to meet growing demand, Reuters reported, citing Freeman Shaheen, the president of global gas. Separately, Chevron Australia President Balaji Krishnamurthy told Bloomberg TV in an interview that liquefied natural gas prices are unlikely to come down over the next six months or so. Chevron shares fell 0.9%.NextEra Energy (NEE) continues to expect 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $3.92 to $4.02 and is targeting the high end of that range. The stock fell 0.8%.Venture Global (VG) agreed to sell 500,000 metric tons of US liquefied natural gas a year for 20 years to China Gas beginning in 2030. Venture Global shares fell 3.4%.YPF (YPF) is nearing two to three liquefied natural gas sales contracts totaling 500,000 to 1.5 million metric tons annually for its proposed $24 billion export project, Bloomberg reported, citing CEO Horacio Marin. YPF shares rose 1.4%.

$CVX$NEE$VG$YPF
Sectors

Sector Update: Tech Stocks Fall Late Afternoon

Tech stocks were lower late Monday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) falling 1.8% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) dropping 6.3%.The Philadelphia Semiconductor index lost 5.8%.In corporate news, Amazon-backed (AMZN) Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for the AI industry to slow the pace of model capability development, saying that accelerating advances and recent alignment incidents could outpace efforts to ensure AI safety. Amazon shares were down 1.2%.Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company's highly anticipated initial public offering will not take place in 2026 due to ongoing concerns around safety and control in the AI sector, Fortune reported, citing an interview with Altman. Separately, Microsoft has posted a document outlining the intended behavior and values of the company's future AI models. The tech giant said the document is being shared for public consultation. Microsoft shares were up 2.1%.Nvidia (NVDA), Palantir (PLTR) and Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) have started demanding guarantees or eliminating use of Anthropic's and OpenAI's most advanced models over concerns that the AI giants could retain their customers' critical data, The Information reported. Microsoft has started leveraging that unease to try to lure OpenAI clients to its own AI products, and it has pitched its own isolated cloud environments to customers worried about privacy, the report said. Nvidia shares fell 3.2%, Palantir rose 3.7%, and Booz Allen was up 4.2%.Oracle (ORCL) has started a new round of layoffs after cuts to its workforce earlier this year, Business Insider reported. Oracle shares fell 3.9%.

$AMZN$BAH$MSFT$NVDA$ORCL$PLTR
Sectors

Sector Update: Healthcare Stocks Gain Late Afternoon

Healthcare stocks advanced late Monday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index up 1.5% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) adding 1.4%.The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 0.7%.In corporate news, Capricor Therapeutics' (CAPR) shares gained 5.1% after B. Riley upgraded the biotechnology company's stock to buy from neutral, and raised its price target to $21 from $5.Summit Therapeutics (SMMT) shares rose 5.2% in Monday trading, a day after the company said its partner Akeso reported updated data, including overall survival, from the phase 3 HARMONi-2 trial of investigational bispecific antibody ivonescimab, showing a 27% reduction in the risk of death compared with pembrolizumab.Addus HomeCare (ADUS) agreed to acquire AccentCare's personal care operations outside of New York in a deal worth roughly $275 million, adding to a series of recent acquisitions. Addus HomeCare shares were up 0.3%.Abbott Laboratories (ABT) agreed to pay about $385 million to resolve allegations that infant formula produced at the company's Sturgis, Michigan, facility failed to meet statutory, regulatory, and contractual requirements, the US Department of Justice said. Abbott shares were up 1.1%.

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