Healthcare stocks advanced late Tuesday afternoon with the NYSE Healthcare Index rising 0.6% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) adding 0.4%.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) climbed 1.3%.
In corporate news, Novo Nordisk (NVO) sued rival Eli Lilly (LLY) in the US over alleged "misleading" advertising campaigns for its obesity and diabetes drugs that compete with the Danish drugmaker's products. Novo shares fell 0.7%, and Lilly rose 1.7%.
Danaher (DHR) raised its full-year profit guidance as fiscal Q2 results came in stronger than expected. The company lowered the top end of its 2026 revenue growth outlook, and the shares fell 11%.
Okyo Pharma (OKYO) shares rose 5.8%. Chairman Gabriele Cerrone increased his stake in the company to 10.9 million shares, or 20.5% of the issued shares, with the purchase of 25,000 shares at $1.40 each.
MapLight Therapeutics (MPLT) is seen having meaningful upside in the ML-007 Phas2 2 schizophrenia trial readout with data expected in mid-August, UBS Securities said. MapLight shares rose 4.1%.